


Dangerous Skies

by EnidZsasz



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Basically takes place before Voyager, Body Horror, Body Modification, F/M, Kinda, No Smut, One Shot, Q - Freeform, Q ex machina, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo Trek, Sharing a Brain, The Borg, Time Travel, there is kinda non-consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:55:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21635983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnidZsasz/pseuds/EnidZsasz
Summary: Rey Niima is a former capture of the borg, liberated as a child from one of their growth chambers she decided to dedicate her life into rid the galaxy of the borg. Working with Luke who helps former 'decommissioned' borg she grows up and joins Starfleet. Making a weapon that can fight against the borg. Getting onto the USS Finalizer who during scouting has found a partly destroyed cube Rey is ready to finally take the fight to the borg. (One Shot)
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Dangerous Skies

**Author's Note:**

> this took kind of forever to write! No, there is no smut, sex didn't fight here. But just imagine them having some alone time and porking the night away as soon as they can!

Rey sighed as she was put into a briefing room for perhaps the tenth time. Star Fleet was nothing if not effective in boring the hell out of its officers and crew. After her last transfer she thought he expressed her frustration enough in these constant briefings. All of them were the same, all federation vessels were much in the way of construction. Getting a whole guided to ‘here is the mess, here is the head’ ten times all in the space of a week. At least now it was finalized she’d finally discharge to this ship. Along with everything she had with her in the transfer. She hissed out and watched the screen as the holoform went through the ship describing everything she knew three times over. 

Finally it stopped and the ships Captain stood in the doorway smiling at her. “I know its boring.” he told her. “I am Captain Dameron.” He bowed towards her as she stood. 

“Engineer Niima.” she stated and took his hand in a formal handshake. 

“I have to say I’m excited to see this weapon you’ve made.” Rey nodded as he moved from the doorway. “From what I understand it is powerful enough to punch through shields?” 

“Not exactly sir. But it's a similar concept to the idea. Its based on Holdo’s run. Where she going through warp speed cut an entire enemy flag ship in half. I was able to make a single ‘punch’ engine that can fire something at warp seven speed. Though in order to punch through the shields of a borg cube it would need to have much faster warp.” The Captain just nodded along with her short spiel. 

“Well it sounds fun.” he added smiling at her. 

“It's NOT fun. It's a serious weapon meant to take the fight TO the Borg.” she replied and then stalled. She back talked a Captain, and waited. 

“Why on earth would we need that? They are always beaten back. Hardly a threat.” Rey took a step back and examined him. 

“I am from an outpost that was taken by the Borg sir. Ever since First Contact with the Borg they have been slowly taking down out outposts in small stations. One to two people-” 

“See not a threat.” he told her. “I’ve got to go. Be sure to get your mess in, and then we can go test this thing.” he waved her off and she watched him leave with a frown. 

“Not a threat my ass.” she mumbled and walked away towards the mess hall. She got a few curious stares but otherwise just like with every other ship all of these people were unknown to her. A minor officer came up to her as she sat down with a small meal. 

“Hey, I’m Finn, you’re the transfer?” he asked her. 

“Is it that obvious?” she retorted tiredly. 

“Yeah, we all know one another here. This isn’t the biggest ship.” he sat down with his own meal. “I’m interested as to what exactly this who deal is about.” 

“I made a weapon that can fight the Borg in a greater capacity than our currently weaponry.” she explained shortly and frowned at the meal. The new ‘materializer’ food was odd tasting in the way that one can taste the difference between sugar and substitutes for it. 

“About damn time. We lose too many people to them.” he told her, she blinked to him and smiled. 

“Thanks, not very many people seem to take them as seriously as I do.” 

“Well yeah, I’ve heard reports of what they do.” Rey at a bit more. 

“It's much worse than the reports say.” 

“Are you an expert?” 

“Yes actually, I specialized in Borg Technology in my star fleet engineering class. Much of it is quasi cobbled together, at least the stuff I was allowed to look at but some of it is from utterly unknown species.” Finn grinned to her. 

“Like what?” 

“Well like the nano-tech they use for their… drones. Its not from humans exactly, nor Vulcan, its based on utterly unknown species tech that manipulates the body to suit the needs of the Borg.” 

“So its from what? Another advanced race we haven’t found?” he asked. 

“Yes probably, it could be from the Andromeda galaxy even.” Finn scoffed. “It could be. We don’t know everything, and it stems to reason if it is unknown to all records, SAY for the borg then it could come from anywhere.” 

“What do you admire them?” she shook her head. 

“No. Never. We don’t know much about them, and the more we make sure they can’t hurt anymore people the better. That includes actually researching them.” she pushed the plate of half eaten food away from her. 

“Can people really be pulled out?” Rey sighed putting her hand to her face.

“Yes, I aided in several extractions. One was forty years in the collective. He didn’t end very well. The older you are the more you just get used to being what you are a drone.” his eyes tracked over her. “He killed himself.” 

“Damn, why would anyone want to stay like that?” Rey stood. 

“Why would anyone want to be a part of StarFleet?” she asked back and he gave her utterly baffled look. “it's comforting to be told what to do, isn’t it? You are very drilled in various scenarios are you not?” 

“Yes of course, it's all… protocol.” he dropped off quietly. 

“I’ll be retiring to the guest quarters, Thank you for the chat.” Rey bowed a little towards him and left at a quick pace. She did not admire the Borg, well not much anyways. Once can admire a machine, the way it works and thrives as much as a machine can thrive. But they can also seek to make sure that machine can not do harm. She settled down much later on her small bed not able to sleep. Getting up she grabbed her personal computer tablet and started going back through her analysis. She wasn’t nervous, all her math and tests were accurate. But she still went over them over and over again until finally about three hours from her main waking hour she fell into a fitful sleep.

Rey was woken up mainly by the slide of the ship out of hyperspace. There wasn’t exactly anything like a sudden stop, or stuttering. But there was a sort of shiver. More like a sudden gust of chill, of the recycled air being cooled all at once. She pushed herself up, and closed her eyes. There were no dreams, she was too well dosed for those. Star Fleet was nothing but very understanding in PTSD and provided drugs that acted as dream suppressants. Created and manufactured on New Vulcan to be exact. 

The next announcements came up to intercoms, muffled by her creche. Two seconds after they ended and she was just in the process of lying down when her personal communicator beeped and she sighed. Grabbing the small metal she tapped it. “Engineer Rey here.” she stated and put it on the front of her sleep shirt, she started getting ready fast and efficient without even thinking about her actions. 

“Commander Hux here. You will report to the bridge as soon as possible.” said a smooth voice. She raised an eyebrow at no one but herself and finished pinning her clothes into place on her. Standing in front of a mirror to ensure the clean lines, then left heading to the bridge. She stalled at a turbo lift with Poe, and frowned at him as he sipped at what smelled like pretty strong Raktajino. 

“Need your cup? Our synthesizers are really good at making it. Even for an outdated one.” he commented. She shook her head, putting her hands behind her back. “Come on loosen up. That’s an order.” she scowled at him. 

“What kind of Captain are you?” she demanded and stepped into the turbolift. He took a long swig and leaned against the side with a grin to her. 

“A fun one. Like not punishing people for talking back. I think I’m just compensating for my first officer.” he took another swig. “Very officious, I think they put him on my ship because he pissed off everyone.” Rey tried not to smile, and instead nodded her head. The lift opened up and she motioned to Poe who swagged out heading to the main chair with a few greetings to the crew there. She more warily stepped out, keeping herself away from everyone. 

“Engineer Rey?” Asked a red headed man. “I am Commander Hux.” He was sharply dressed, and even had gloves as he held a hand to her. She took it with a low nod, as Poe sipped noisily. “I see you have met our Captain.” he lamented. 

“Are you sure he’s the captain?” she asked quietly and got everyone but Hux to laugh. Even Poe himself. 

“Sad to say I am. Though I do think Hux wants my Job.” he replied, Rey looked around her and found her only steady solace in the reserved Hux. Everyone else seemed to be egear joking, and well bonded to each other. One of her teachers would probably call it ‘a perfect crew’. 

“It is sad to see such lax behaviors.” Hux snipped and bowed his head to her. “Officer Finn,” Rey blinked when she noticed him, he waved to her. “Please display our destination.” he made a few clicks with a smile and the image was displayed. 

It huge like so much darkness in the sky and she intanked a sharp breath in when she saw it. The Cube wasn’t lit, there was no sign it had seen them, and hung there like dead weight around a neutron star. She calmed herself, running a critical eye over it. “We found this while scouting.” Hux told her calmly. Offering his hand to her, she took it, letting him lead her down to one of the consols. She read a well down readout on a whole scan of the cube. There was no sign of lifeforms on board, though that wasn’t odd for a sentry cube. 

It was however completely and utterly damaged in a critical way. She noted the back of the cube, the one locked in a semi stable orbit with the star was sheared away, floating only kilometers behind it. If it were active, it would have lots of things repairing the damage. She let go of the man’s hand finally, staring at the cube with a shiver of a horrifying memory she did her best to utterly ignore. 

“We are going to repair it enough to get the shields of it on, and only the shields.” Hux told her and she shivered. Examination of their explore team said what caused the sheer was unknown. A short video of the team showed dead and vacant drones, dead at their feet, some slumped down, and some standing frozen locked still at the task they were doing. “Do you have an idea as to the event?” 

Rey went back through the scans, there was no trace of another ship, so the Holdo Maneuver wasn’t likely. The breaks weren’t clean and the ends were melted. She cast a look at the star, it wasn’t the fast rotating monsters that cast out a steady beam of energy. “I’d say the star, they were harvesting it and it caused a destablity then cut the cube as it lashed out.” she said and cast a look towards Hux’s approving look. 

“It appears so, there is a trace of neutron star matter on the cut halves, though how the cube survived the event is the utterly unknown thing.” He replied. Rey looked back up at the cube as the ship they were on stayed a careful distance away from it. “You are an expert, why would the borg harvest a neutron star?” 

“They might have gotten information from the Dominion to be able to do so, and sent this probe to harvest the matter. Only they screwed up. Do we have details of age?” she asked. Hux reached out with her their hands briefly touching. She drew her hand back, and he tapped a few keys. Several readouts of around thirty-seven different time periods for the ship came up. She ran her eyes through them, and nodded. It wasn’t new, nowhere near there, and from what she could see there were only vaguely humanoid drones. 

“The drones?” she asked. Hux smiled to her holding his hand out to her. 

“We were waiting for you to take one into the medical bay for testing.” She shook his hand smiling. “Thank you. The borg need to be destroyed, and I hope your weapon proves to be what we require to take the fight to their space.” 

“We’ll need more than just a weapon, never underestimate the power of good shields.” he smiled at her nodding. “I’ll go look over one of the drones, see what new tech might be in them, then you should tow the ship away from the star. We don’t want the star to do anything to us.” Rey blushed a little, it was impertinent. 

“I understand, we will do as you ask. You are in charge of this mission.” He nodded his head and she blinked. Maybe it was lost on her in all her transfers to this ship, but she never had the charge of the mission before. 

“Thank you Commander. I will do my best!” she smiled back at him. “We just need the shield core of the ship active, so we don’t need to activate it in any real manner. I can help guide an away team to it, and then we can hot wire it up to some kind of external power source. It would be too dangerous to reactive it. Even with its communications inactive and blocked.” 

“Good to note Rey. It should take a few hours to tow the cube. POE.” Hux snapped. Poe sighed. 

“Transport crew?” Poe asked tapping a button on his chair. 

“HERE Cap’n! Are we FINALLY going to grab one of those things?” asked a female voice. Rey blinked at Poe then back to Hux who looked mournful. 

“Yes, be my guest for which of the tagged ones you take. Have it put into medical bay to await our Guest.” 

“Rose signing off Cap’n!” 

“Thank you.” Poe drank down the rest of his drink and relaxed back into his chair shutting his eyes. 

“Does he take anything seriously?” she asked Hux in a whisper. 

“No.” Hux snapped curtly. He motioned her away and she nodded, heading off with only a quick look to the view screen to confirm the Cube was in fact stationary, that it was just a vague memory of what it once was. 

“Thank you Commander Hux.” Rey told him and he stayed in front of the turbolift as she got on. “I will be sure to have all data sent to you.” she gave a look to Poe who was busy issuing orders to tow the cube off to safer space. 

“If there is any usable technology we would like to see if we can use it.” Hux said and she nodded. 

“Unlikely, but I will ensure it. It… isn’t safe to go through some of the data storage in the Cube, as it could activate communications. You do not want to go through a fully active cube to fight Commander. But… hm…” Rey put her hand to her face. “I might be able to use a hard data search for the Dominion tech.” she paused. “We may be able to do what this cube failed to do.” Hux smiled at that. 

“It is refreshing to have a serious person on board finally.” Hux told her, she nodded and activated the lift, heading towards the medical bay.

**  
  
  
**

Four people crowded around the dead thing on the table, and Rey shivered, her skin crawling staring at it. Due to the nano-probes, or rather nano-tech inside of the body it didn’t swell when it was exposed to the vacuum of space like most bi-ped species. She approached it, ignoring the medical techs and looked down at the frozen slack face of the creature. It had red skin and black tattoos all over him. Hairless, although that was normal for drones, he had a ridge of dermal crowns that she could see were part of the actual skull of the bi-ped. 

“Scan up.” stated one lady and Rey looked up at the skeletal structure of the creature. It was sturdy, like a Klingons skeleton, and she examined it before letting the medical techs go over the scans further. “He… this thing is alive.” one stated, Rey still ignored them. “His cells are in stasis.” 

Rey put her hand on the ocular implant and shuddered. Maybe the techs were briefed, or maybe not. The nanoprobes in her bloodstream acted fast, and with a clear directive. She couldn’t understand them, not really, it was like trying to understand the wind by only feeling it on your skin. She took her hand off, and looked to the medical team surrounding him. 

“Male.” Rey stated, she knew that much. They looked at her curiously, and examined their scans. “Designation…” her eyes went distant, the nano-probes connecting to the sole implant left in her head. “Eleven of eight. Tertiary...” she blinked shaking her head out of the space that connected her to the implant. The team as staring at her. “Were you not briefed?” she asked. 

“No we were. It’s just… how?” Rey shrugged. 

“Like a computer downloading information.” she said as the most innate response she could make. It felt like a hundred years ago as they stared at her like she was particular and utterly alien species. 

“Anyways…” Rey said and rolled her hand in the air. Watching the team as they kept giving her a glance as the scans revealed the male further. In a way she ached for him, like in the way you ached when you saw crumbling structures. Rey couldn’t be sure if it was that ‘human’ feeling, or a mournful sort of feeling for a loss of the collective. Either way it wasn’t important as she got to work. Taking a small probe from one of the team she went over him, looking down and registering information in a passive way about the drone. 

**Directive?**

**-Create substance: Neutronium.**

**Substance unstable.**

**Send distress signal.**

**Disababled.**

**Activate stasis.**

**Standby.**

**Standby.**

**Standby.**

Rey strayed to the weapon hand of the drone and lifted it up, unlinking the attachment and setting it on a hovering plate by her. “There is an unknown type of weapon on that, have it scanned further.” She examined the minor power core of the drone, it was typical and thus not needed. But one of the implants in its head was strange.

“Can… can we go through the process with him?” asked one of the team in a whisper. 

“No.” Rey told them idly. “Hmmm…” she let the information flood her head and then drew back as it triggered into an intense migraine. “Ow…” The head doctor walked over to her guiding her down into a table. 

“You don’t need to go any further.” she stated kindly. Rey blinked to the hologram badge on her, and then shut her eyes. It was like a vague whisper in the back of her head, more than just a trillion voices, all speaking as one. It quieted the further she got from the body, and she shuddered settling down in a small private medical room. The holodoc ran a scanner on her as the pain faded down into a throb. Leaving Rey to blink back to awareness. 

“Species 66.” she told the doc who frowned at her. 

“Your nano-probes are still active?” she asked. 

“I had them re-activated. Just a part of them.” Rey frowned taking a long breath in, shutting out the alluring voices. “Its useful, it lets me have a soft connection to this poor fellow.” the doc did not look happy. “The implant in my head is just like a data thing, it’s not a transmitter.” 

“I can see that, but it still has intense effects on your neural network. You should allow us to deactivate the nano-probes.” 

“If that ship is anywhere near active I’ll know it, and it's more important to know it, and then disable it then to think of my mental welfare.” The doctor tsked, and then went back into the room with the drone. 

The cube was old, but not as old as the few she had heard of. Most of the tech was what they had seen before. “I’m guessing all the drones are of this species?” she asked loudly. 

“Yes for the most part. There are a few Vulcans that we noticed.” replied one of the team. Rey nodded, letting the data in her head settle down. 

“They were making neutronium. The particulate probe that they made to draw off atoms of the matter exploded, taking out half the ship. The ship was put into stasis as it was too damaged to repair itself. The explosion appears to have blanked out the distress call, leaving the cube in stasis and basically off the main hub of the borg as the communication arrays were severely damaged.” 

“So even if we activate the cube it will not be able to be a part of the collective?” Rey shook her head. 

“No. We can’t risk it even with the damage to the communications. Borg have several redundancies. Due to the stasis mode it prevents them from continuing a distress beacon. It would drain main power too much. I don’t know how long its been in stasis, the borg don’t care for time as much as we do.” 

“Good to know.” the holodoc said. Rey recovered enough and stood up heading back to the drone still feeling her skin prickling due to the nearness of the inactive drone. 

**Repair protocol: Active.**

**Re-activate power core.**

**Establish connection to collective.**

The whispers slid into her mind. Rey was part way towards the drone before she shook it out from her head swerving to the severed arm and examining it. Using some tools a single tech handed her she dismantled it, getting to the unknown weapon. 

Just a handle of it she was stalled on how it worked as the scanners really provided nothing much useful. The handle was well shielded with the unknown metal that it was. More information flitted in her head and she winced with the migraine coming back. Without more main components the implant was trying to use the more fragile organic storage to download further information. All the information that the drone would have, as part of the collective into her. She had to take a moment to shift through the soft connection to only ‘request’ the pertinent information as it gave up on trying to force its way into her brain. 

“Wow. 66 was pretty amazing.” she mumbled and picked up the weapon. It flicked on, and the entire team gasped in leaping away from her. It emitted a hot blade like plasma quickly flooding the area with heat. 

**Integrate back to collective.**

**Assimilate species 5618.**

**Acquire unknown technology.**

**  
  
**

Rey flicked it off and then felt a prick on her arm looking over to the holodoctor. The skin prickling feeling faded and she gave the doctor a confused look as the drugs took effect. Rey passed out into darkness her mind dredging up the past that she tried to keep utterly repressed at all times. 

**  
  
**

_ Rey grinned ecstatically watching the view screen as their transport ship came to a halt. The quiet lurch of the ship only rocked the two hundred occupants. All settlers in a ‘train’ heading for a planet base below. Her eyes tracked down on the planet below, covered mostly by blue water. Her home world was Mars, and seeing all the blue of this planet so much like all the images of earth she had been shown all her life. She was nearly vibrating with joy as the ship entered the atmosphere.  _

_ “Rey, do you remember the greeting?” her mother asked.  _

_ “Dif-tor heh smusma!” she grinned and held up her hand in a V-shape. One of the other settlers, a Vulcan nodded towards her. _

_ “Good for a human pronunciation.” he stated calmly.  _

_ “Thank you sir!” The humans chuckled, as the ship rattled and then stalled. A quiet mummer went through the ship. The only thing that told the child that this was not normal. No alarm blared, the ship was set down, and all the doors opened with a quiet hiss.  _

_ Borg drones all stood at the open doors. Each one spoke at the same time.  _

**_“WE ARE THE BORG. You will surrender. All resistance is futile.”_ ** _ her mother gripped her hand as Rey stood staring at the drones. She was a little kid and only knew the borg as a vague enemy.  _

_ One person got up, but one drone raised an arm and he went down.  _

**_“Resistance is futile.”_ ** _ they stated again. Slowly, each one of the settlers stood, what the clouds hid showed to them as they all existed. Her mother gripping her hand enough to hurt and making Rey want to pull away.  _

_ “OH GOD.” her mother mumbled as she looked towards what was once a settlement. Now it was what later Rey knew as a Unimatrix. They were guided towards it the previously happy adults around her sobbing.  _

_ Rey pulled her hand from her mother, they were being separated into species groups, and then further down to ages it seemed like. “PLEASE.” was the last thing Rey heard her mother say. But she was ferried down in with the other twenty children towards darkness. She blinked up at one drone leading them, she was the youngest of kids. The eldest was holding onto the hand of one sobbing girl.  _

_ Rey watched as the Borg drones guided them towards what looked like medical rooms. She watched as each child was guided to a table to be injected with a large needle. It glowing hot in between each injection. Rey froze as the last, she looked around her. But there was nothing to let her escape. Being ungentle a drone with two vulcan ears picked her up and set her down. The needle stuck into her neck but the borg was holding onto her preventing her struggle as the cold oh so cold thing was put inside of her.  _

_ Then there was almost nothing, a sort of dull shock that took out fear and the sense of somewhat danger. She was put down and guided towards other rooms. Each child was acting in the same dulled manner. The machines around them busy and at work. She watched as the eldest kid was more or less taken off to the side, while she passed. The severing of the arm happened fast and the limb was still twitching when one drone placed it into some kind of receptacle.  _

_ Rey was put laid down onto a bed. Two drones were around her, their eyes dull and implants looking over her as a scanner roamed over her body.  _ **_“Twenty of twenty.”_ ** _ stated a drone dully. She shivered it wasn’t cold. It happened fast, something felt like it hit her face. She reacted, rolling off the table and ran. The drones were slow to respond and to try to catch her. She was gone out of the rooms before the doors could shut. Rey was then outside with alarms blazing. She wanted out and away, the voices starting to whisper in the back of her head.  _

**_“STAY STILL.”_ **

_ They commanded, she slipped into a hall where the old adults were taken. Her mind went still and quiet. She was frozen still at the command watching without being allowed to feel terror or horror as she watched the older people being broken down into parts, their organic comments feeding into the structure from various ports in the side of the room. These people were too old to use, their bodies frailer than the rest. Rather than have failing drones they were broken down into components.  _

_ What lodged into her mind was as they were led living and breathing into the booths they used to do this, was that no one screamed. Only tears fell down their eyes. There was no possible way for them, pure utter civilians to fight back. Their only hope was the missing transmission of ‘got home’ that could warn Star Fleet of what happened to this distant outpost.  _

**_“Come. Twenty of Twenty.”_ ** _  
_ _ Rey blindly moved, following the directive in her head down a programed path back to the room with then other children. Her arm wasn’t severed, it could impede growth. But she was placed into a kind of tank, a wire snaked into her neck, stabbing into her veins, and another went into her nose. All of it unfeared, she wasn’t allowed fear. The last snaked into her stomach as she felt the ones in her nose go into each lunch, filling it with a type of thick fluid to keep her oxygenated.  _

_ A trillion and more voices ran into her head. Then there was no Rey.  _

Four months Later. It took four months for them to send a scout ship to the base to find it run over. By then Rey was made at least two years older then when she went into the tank. But at least, the very least they came. Not everyone, or rather only the other children in the tanks could be saved. The rest were gone. Leaving nothing in their wake but empty husks of what once were people with hopes and dreams. 

**  
  
**

Rey woke in that small personal medical room with a whimper of dread expecting to be back in the tube the mix of things going into her body making her age faster. The holodoctor was waiting patiently beside her with a frown. “I fully deactivated the nano-probes inside of you.” 

“Why?” 

“I can sense the connection you have. It is more than you may think.” Rey frowned back at the physical hologram. “Call me Paige.” she said simply bowing her head. “I ran a scan and the implant has grown two mircons as the probes were active.” 

“That should be impossible. Luke personally made sure they couldn’t do that.” Rey stated and then grimaced. The Borg were nothing if not adaptable. With the implant in her head as a guide they likely were just ‘repairing’ it and thus would get what they wanted in a full conversion. Taking out the nano-probes was too dangerous with the implant left in her head, as that could fail and render her braindead. Luke, the head of all borg knowledge was able to deactivate the majority of the probes to just keep it functioning enough to let her live. 

“Yes, he sent me the protocols for such things. I was to monitor you to ensure his work was done and still functioning. However when you touched the drone I was able to sense you connected to him. You were too dangerous to keep allowing that.” 

“Whatever, I understand. How long have I been out?” Rey stood up stretching her limbs. 

“Only a single hour. You should go and eat, spend time with friends.” 

“I just transferred here, friends are made over time.” 

“But friendly faces are not.” Rey blinked to the holodoctor Paige and then left heading towards the mess hall to ease the ache in her stomach that rumbled to life. 

The lingering horror of her past faded to the dull throb of memory as she entered into the busy mess. Most were chatting about the partial borg cube they were still hauling. She ordered blindly at the main menu sitting down in a quiet corner to eat. 

"Message for Rey Niima." Stated a small electronic whisper. She looked down to a small rotund droid and nodded. It planted a small plastic like film in her hand. Reading it over quickly she looked up to all the people. 

'Commander Hux requests you at a private dinner' it stated. She paused thinking. "Accepted. Have him send for me." She told the droid handing back the film. It sucked it into this body and rolled away. Her meal sat uncomfortably in front of her and she ate it blindly, ignoring the taste.

**  
  
**

"So it works using a dominion energy crystal in order to make a plasma blade?" Hux asked her. Rey nodded over the specs she was showing him of the internals of the strange blade. The knowledge had lodged into her head over the few hours she spent going over more details of the drone. 

"We also have found a new bi-ped species in the drone and what looked like Vulcans at first glance. It appears to be convergent evolution. Both these species don’t have hair follicles anywhere on their bodies." Rey explained to Hux. He seemed fairly sated with her company. "Their dna is nothing like Vulcan dna, just as the other one is unknown."

"It’s a shame they aren't Vulcans." Hux stated. She nodded. "Are they testing for genetic divergence?" 

"Yes but it will take time the nano-probes tend to obscure dna, and with the assimilation it passes things around for what works better." She dropped her hand to a glass and took a sip of it. There was no strange sort of taste to it, it wasn't replicated wine. She stopped looking to the glass and then back to him. He smiled at her. 

"It’s quite amazing the will you have." He told her. She shivered putting the wine back down. "I was taken in when I was twenty three for seven days. You?" He stated flatly. She grinned at him. 

"I was four when they took me, I was injected and put in a growth chamber for four months. I grew two years in that time." Whatever light awkwardness eased. 

"So much for efficiency." He commented dryly. Rey burst into laughter, letting her hand drop to his. He had removed his gloves and even with the nano-probes deactivated that didn't stop the chip in her head from doing a quasi ping. 

"Quite amazing." He stated and raised his hand tracking a bit of her hair back away from her forehead. One eye she noted was dilating and contracting fast and leaned forwards, putting her fingers just below it. "They used some of the tech to replace the eye."

"Lucky." She said and drew back. "The nano-probes?" 

"They are steady with Luke's coding. Like yours."

"Doctor Holodrama told me she deactivated them." She replied taking another bite of her food. 

"I have the things here to reactivate them. I usually have them on. It helps me sleep." Rey looked him over. “Do you want yours active?” 

“Yes! If I am going to go onto that ship then they’ll tell me if there is anything functioning on it.” Hux nodded to her. “Thank you so much. I thought Luke forbid all of us to know the details of his Coding.” 

“I am a singular person. I have no desire to rejoin the collective.” She watched him smiling. “I have proved that when the ship I was on before was attacked by a small axillary probe. We were both looking over some Dominion ruins, but I could have surrendered. That is the main point. I did not, and placed a bomb into the ship and sent it back.” he smiled to her. “I am lucky though to have an eye?” she blushed. 

“Ah… well a fourth of my brain is taken up by an implant. Luke says it's a miracle that I am even still a person. All the time. Every single therapy session.” she leaned back in her chair. “You don’t go to them?” 

“No. Not anymore.” she sighed in frustration. “Perhaps this will convince him otherwise?” 

“I sure hope so.” she took a long drink of the wine, she feared no intoxication. Whatever it could be, would be taken out by the nano-probes. While they were ‘active’ it was only within her own body and not entirely allowed outside contact. Inactive just functioned to clear her bloodstream and to keep toxins out. “I barely convinced him to activate them for travel. I am damn sure he made that holodoc deactivate them once I got here, rather than for anything like this." 

"Any other implants?" 

"No, just the brain, the rest were able to be taken out, they are ironically gentle to kids." She replied. He nodded to her and pushed his chair back. 

"Then let's get these things activated and take over this ship." He said, Rey laughed, and took his hand letting him guide her down to a sofa. It looked like some kind of computer that he placed in her lap. It flickered to life and she went still staring at it, feeling the same kind of prickling that she felt around all borg technology. 

Hux's hand went around and touched the back of her neck, and as she gave the lap computer a look, two filament wires slipped through his skin into hers. "Here." He tapped a few buttons on the top of it and it brought up a holoscan where she could watch as the still nano-probes came back to half-life. Their coding, or as much as she could read at the moment displayed. Luke's own codings running through the jumbled mess that was the borgs. 

The thin filament wires slipped into her brain, connecting to the computerized portion. Rey went still, her body froze as she stared at the small screen. All that said of her life was a steady breath and her blinking. But there was nothing else at the moment, the borg were nothing if not efficient in their take over. The organic portion of her mind rebelled for a moment. But then it too quieted without a whisper of doubt. 

**Query: designation.**

**_Twenty of twenty. Repair._ **

**Query: Identification**

**_Unknown. Repair._ **

**Query: Objective One.**

**_Rejoin collective. Repair._ **

**Query: How to repair.**

A mental image of the power core of the ship and all of its damage passed through her mind. The highly compact chip, more so than the other drones, passed the information through the thin wires. The space it was in held more than most average terminals. All knowledge that she currently had was there. Hux ran through it all, examining how to repair her, and further the cube. Just activate the power core of the ship, and that seemed to sate this. 

**Inject Code 1a.**

**_Coding accepted._ **

**Query: Identification.** ****

Hux smiled as his mind ran through her identification within the borg. Briefly his fingers brushed alongside her neck possessively. 

**Query: How to activate Eleven of Eight?**

The knowledge of how to activate the drone slipped through the thin wires. They slipped out quickly from her body, and she blinked coming back to herself without a single bit of knowledge of the exchange. 

"Rey? I am wondering about the foriegn chip in the drones head. It isn't borg tech is it?" Hux said a moment later. The exchange only taking two minutes at most. 

The little probes working and active now making her skin prickly with Hux's closeness. His hand and arm curved around her shoulders. "No, it is integrated, and there are borg that have the same kind of chip but this one is designed more… fluidly then borg. It is probably from the drone before he was assimilated." Hux nodded smiling. The small device on her lap was plucked off as she slid his arm away from her, and set it on the table with food. 

"Sir, can I ask a… probing question?" She asked. Hux turned back to her and smiled. "Well it might be more than just one." 

"Yes of course, we are friends are we not?" She grinned at him. 

"Did Luke forbid you from relationships too?" She flushed as he chuckled. 

"Yes, we all have to wear impermeables he was very clear about that. He showed me a borg baby born out of the womb of one of us." Rey grimaced at the memory. 

"Yes, any time I've seen fit to try you tell a male 'i'm sorry you have to wear an impermeable' then he just looks at you like a pan-galactic space whore." Hux settled back down by her. "What about your grouping? Where there relapse?" 

"Of course there were. Two of them." Rey leaned back into the sofa with a sigh. 

"Every other one who was decommissioned with me. Nineteen people and all of them just… synced up with each other. They took over the bridge of a ship and then took themselves and the forty other crew into borg space." 

"It is a tragedy." She looked to him and bit her lip. "Did they not want you?" 

"Oh they did, thirteen called me and asked me aboard. But I was busy with my starfleet classes." She flushed as he took her hand the skin tingling. The portion of her brain went ping again, this time with more information. 

"One of eight primary adjutant of unimatrix seventy fourteen. Now that is impressive. Have you seen a core then?" 

"Yes I have." He leaned down. "But this might constitute as favouritism." He kissed her cheek. Rey smiled again. "Since I am requesting you personally for the away team." She grabbed his hand in both of hers. 

"You're joking?" He shook his head. "That is amazing! Yes finally I get to be on a borg cube! There is so much I can learn! I thought the holodoc might…. Oh crap.” Rey frowned drawing her hands back to her chest. 

“Let me help.” Hux offered her his hand. She took it, grinning happily. 

“The holodoc has information of Luke’s protocol and can remotely activate or deactivate the nano-probes.” she explained. 

“That I know, here, let me see if I have a spare.” Hux left her by the sofa as she stood. He disappeared into his personal bedroom and then came back out. “It’s a little unprepared, but I use one to keep the holodoc off my back.” he handed her a small chip that was encased in a two centimeter plastic case. It would go into her badge on her chest. It was about the size of a small grain.

“I guess you got tired of the constant updates?” she asked him taking the small chip and putting it into a pocket. He nodded, taking her hand and bringing it up to his lips to kiss the back of it. “Ahaha!” Rey pulled it back blushing. “Well, I can’t keep you to much. We would be accused of fraternization.” 

“With Poe around? Unlikely. But you are correct, it should wait until after the mission.” he bowed his head towards her. “If you like, you can take the lap device and study Luke’s coding. I’m sure you can find something interesting.” 

“You don’t know it?” she asked him. 

“It’s a bit beyond my mind, I have no patience for coding and engineering.” he smiled at her as she took the lap device hiking it under an arm. 

“Thank you again!” she frowned and leaned up just barely kissing his cheek. He raised his hand and cupped her cheek. She could feel her heart racing, she could finally connect with another person, she thought. Most everyone she had ever met was repelled by her history with the borg, and she was required to state it due to it being the borg. If it was anything else it could be kept close to the chest. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow for the away party.” he told her. Rey nearly skipped back to her personal quarters. It wasn’t shared with anyone, she was alone and in a closet sort of space. But she put the device on her small table activating it, and getting the coding in a larger screen to read it better as she took off the badge. Taking out the small plastic container she opened it and hovered the back of the badge to the chip. 

It was almost ‘sucked’ up into the back of it and gave three quiet confirming chirps. Rey set that down and ran her eyes through the mess of coding that was in the nano-probes. It was actually impressive how each one held so much for how small they were. No part of the actual earth, vulcan, or any other ally could compare with it. They could alter it, but actually building it they couldn’t get it done. During the singular raids against Uni, Bi, or Trimatrixes, the facility that ‘manufactured’ them was always set to destruction long before anyone got to it. 

It wasn’t as if any normal person could really fathom it without being some kind of special savant like Khan anyways either. She picked out the portions that was Luke’s code. It was like straight lines in a jumble of circles. The implant in her head stored the information discarding a few things that were less important. Rey shook her head a few moments later frowning. She clicked the device off, and let the jumble in her mind come to a steady pulse. 

She sat still on the chair eyes blinked and breath steady. The information flitted into her mind, like a painful handshake between the two portions. 

**Dump Objective 1.2.3.4.5**

Can not dump Objective 1.2.3.4.5.

**Run Luke protocol Six**

Dumping protocol 1.2.3.4.5.

Storing Luke Protocol information. 

**Run Luke Protocol One**

Activating Luke Protocol One

**Query Objective**

Unknown. 

**Query: Objective 1.**

Unknown.

**Query Objective 2.**

Unknown.

**Query Objective 3.**

Unknown. 

**Query Objective 4.**

Unknown. 

**Query Objective 5.**

Unknown. 

**Query Protocol 1.**

Run repair. 

**Query Protocol 2.**

Run cleanse. 

**Query Protocol 3.**

Run maintain.

**Query Protocol 4.**

Run shielding

**Query Protocol 5.**

Run build. 

**Query Primary Objective**

Unknown. 

Rey shuddered as it all took place and blinked rapidly a migraine aura running through her eyes making it hard to see. She grinned as it slipped into the more organic portion of her mind. She wondered if it would actually stay that way permanently. It was a way to test the full function of Luke’s codings and protocols. The borg after all were adaptable. But if all the borg things were dumped from her then it could be better. She wondered for a single moment if it meant anything, but testing after all must be done. Rey took a few waiting pills and then settled down into dreamless sleep.

She was nearly shaking with excitement as she sat by Hux and three other people, all of them more battle ready then her or Hux. They were just going to harness the tech and maybe if she could access the data banks to find out how to use neutronium they could find out then what happened to the dominion. See if they still existed. Maybe the being known as ‘Q’ was part of the dominion. Rey shivered as they neared the cube, her nano-probes prickling. 

They didn’t speak to her as they had before, crooning to her to repair, contact the collective, and rejoin. But now the information read out in her head was running down various things that even this far away they were, itching, maybe be the proper word. The small transport latched onto the side of the ship and everyone almost at once put their helmets on, they suctioned down creating a seal against the vacuum of space. 

“First thing we do is get the ship soft patched so we can explore at leisure.” Hux told them. Rey nodded, helping the others get the ‘patches’ into others hands. Briefcase sized devices they were basically shield generators used mostly in combat situations to ‘patch’ missing sections of ships. They could run for an entire day, but if she were able to just get the power core active they could connect them to the devices and thus then possibly repressurize the destroyed cube and then as Hux said. Explore at leisure. 

Rey wasn’t the last one off the ship, but she wasn’t the first, Hux reached out, and again she got that prickling sensation around him, he handed her off into the destroyed cube as the others fanned out to place the generators out. “Come on, we will find the powercore first, we can track it back to the main computer and cut that.” Rey nodded, and let Hux lead her further into the cube. 

Pass the destroyed portion the cube was like any other that she had seen videos of, unknown, or mostly unknown wires, cords, pipes, and computer parts, all wound into the structure of the cube. The corridors were barely large enough for a humanoid to pass through, but she had seen one video of one that didn't even have this large of corridors. The borg had taken an insectoid species that was as large as a dog, and therefore the cube there was designed for those creatures. Every probe inside of her was restless, and the near constant readout in her brain was trying to do something. But it wasn’t working. 

Rey paused at a humanoid, very much like the one before. He was still, not breathing and could be truly dead. If not for the borg implants inside of him. Hux stalled as she put a hand to his face, waiting. She felt nothing in her head, not like before, where she could in fact read out the drones designation and further. “Is anything wrong?” Hux asked her. Rey shook her head and stood following him. 

**ACCESS REPAIR**

The knowledge to repair things traveled into her waking mind, it was like an internal view screen in her head. One of her hands went up touching a cable, and stalled again. “Almost there.” Hux stated grabbing Rey’s arm and taking her off it before whatever that was reached her mind. She shook her head, and smiled as she saw the main powercore. 

“This…” Rey stalled as Hux tapped a few things, the power surge that resulted fading into her. The nano-probes unknown to her built another portion quickly working as all borg do, now just over the forth of her brain. The entire cube came to life as she stood unable to move and function. Wireless connections buzzed to life. 

**Twenty-of-Twenty**

**REPAIR MAIN BANK.**

Several things were passed into her mind, and she sensed in a dull fashion as the cube tried to fully access and take control of her mind. Rey turned stiffly marching out and away towards the main computer bank. Getting further from the powerbank Rey started to run, and found the drones slowly lumbering up. 

Rey dodged past one, and finally her mind started to fully come back again. She carrened off one large drone and came to the exit, the large sheared off portion of where the soldiers had just finalized the generators. Connecting to the main power. “STOP!” she tried, but the shields activated just as the drones converged onto the soldiers. They didn’t last long as Rey leapt onto the shuttle craft, powering it up with a few flipped switches and then dragging it off the side of the cube as the thing fully activated. 

**TWENTY OF TWENTY**

**RETURN**

Rey ignored it, and sealed the shuttlecraft. “USS Finalizer, come in!” Rey touched a blinking button. 

“Hey there-” Poe began, then completely stalled. “Rey?” 

“The Cube is active, you need to get out of space. Everyone is… captured.” she stated quickly heading towards the now soothing form of the USS ship. 

“What?” Poe asked. 

“I… the cube is active.” she repeated. “They tried to fight the drones and were taken. Hux…” the memory was blank. “I don’t know about Hux.” she stated. She could still feel the crawling sensation of the nano-probes. Now far enough from it she calmed herself. “We need to destroy the cube before it can call in others, or get out of this space.” Rey stalled just near the ship, the bay was open and a team was waiting for her. 

“I need more information Rey.” Poe told her. “Get to the bridge as soon as you can. I am sending a distress call out now.” her heart stuttered in her chest. Poe didn’t sound as lackadaisy as he usually did, actually serious minded. She nodded to herself trying to stay calm. The arrival wasn’t mentioned and she was quickly ferried into the command deck. 

Poe looked serious as the others as they worked. Rey shivered as Poe barked a few orders, flinging the shields up and quickly getting the ship heading away from the main portion of the cube. “Now explain what happened.” Poe demanded in a quiet moment. 

“I don’t know, the...Memory was blanked in the power surge.” she winced when she said it. The nano-probes were still there under her skin and she had to face the fact that she might not be as free as she thought. “Hux and the rest have to be captured at the least.” 

“You left them there.” Poe stated and she looked down to the ground flinching and shaking. 

“Yes. They fought back. I’m sorry.” she said quietly. An alarm blazed briefly, before the entire ship went still, everything shutting down and then quickly filling back into the emergency lights.

“Everyone is required to head to the medical bay. An unknown infectious disease has spread into the ship.” the Autodoc stated. Rey looked up as everyone stood up from their stations. 

“NO!” she screamed. “The drone.” she said and ran to a computer bank. The entire bridge crew parted for her as she felt the same prickling sensation under her skin. “It’s taken over the main computer bank.” 

“Can we get it back?” Poe asked her. Rey grimaced. “REY?” 

“I need a…” she stalled, the memories repaired in the mind. She tapped the view screen. “I need a wire.” curving around to the back she punched the maintenance access. 

“Rey!” Poe yelled and she turned to him. 

“Trust me.” she told him, thin probes extended out from her wrist, blue in color as she pulled at the wires inside finding the proper one she ripped it out the thing probes stalling before she connected to it. Poe had a phaser pointed at her. “Please.” she looked to him. He drew it back, as her mind delved into the ship’s systems. 

It was like trying to swim against a raging current but her mind was still, the borg coding unable to penetrate her mind. She could feel the steady integration of people, their minds blanked out further and further. Rey shuttled towards the power, slicing into it. The command deck powered up, and its security measures slammed down. All modern ships had the command deck a ‘life pod’ that could ensure the temporary survival of the crew. It couldn’t jump, but it detached from the main ship and fired rockets quickly getting away from the ship. 

Looking back against it as Rey stood up letting the cord go as this portion with its own small powercore. The main ship shut down, and this command deck restored itself. Everyone watched as the half cube, propelled as it ‘backed’ into the Finalizer consuming it. 

“What the hell?” Poe breathed. 

“The distress signal did it go through?” she asked them. Everyone was quiet, Rey stood up going over to the computer and quickly bringing it back to life. She brought up the last call out and froze as she read it. “Fuck.” she snapped loud enough for everyone to look towards her. “It sent to borg space.” she tapped it to the main screen. Every place where the borg controlled space was shown there, and the distress beacon was sent there. 

“What can we do?” Finn asked aloud. Rey looked down to the computer banks. A communication roared into the screens. 

**TWENTY OF TWENTY**

**YOU WILL RETURN.**

Everyone looked back to her. Rey tapped a few keys. 

_ No.  _

She replied, and the cube turned towards them, showing the undestroyed side. 

**YOU ARE REQUIRED.**

Every eye turned to her. Rey blinked and then grinned savagely towards the screen. 

_ Oh? You can’t get past the lock on the weapon can you? _

**YOU WILL RETURN.**

_ You wont get it even if you take me, the process of assimilation will destroy the memories I hold of it. Even the implant in my mind will be wiped of data as soon as the collective is established. _

Poe walked to her back. “What are you planning?” he asked her. 

“There is going to be no reasoning with the borg. But I might be able to get the chance to send a distress call.” Rey replied to him. She quickly ran towards the main communication bank, and brought it up. 

“We can’t make it out from that thing.” Finn said. Rey looked up to him. 

“It’s not bad. There isn't any pain.” she told them calmly. “You can’t fight back, otherwise they will kill you.” The small crew here shifted in their stances. 

“Can you send a distress call?” Rey tried it, but the cube blocked the call. The view screen flicked to something else as the call was turned to them. Answered by the Cube, with Hux’s calm features. 

“Hux.” Poe stated and everyone turned to the screen. 

“Twenty of twenty.” Hux stated flatly. “You will return.” Poe turned to her as she walked down to the front. Hux looked towards her. 

“I told you, the assimilation process will wipe my memories. It’s needed.” Rey smiled grimly towards the traitor. “I wiped all the borg code. In order to establish it, everything will need to be wiped. Luke’s coding you know.” Hux was silent as he listened. 

“You will return.” he said. 

“There is no doubt that we can’t run or do much.” Poe said and Hux turned to him. “So why did you do it Hux? You can at least give ME an explanation.” Hux didn’t say anything. 

“To rejoin the collective.” Rey said quietly. “He wanted to rejoin the borg. We all do.” Poe glanced to her. “We can’t escape it.” Hux smiled. 

“We can self terminate.” Finn suggested. Everyone was quiet. 

“Twenty of twenty you will rejoin the collective.” Hux told them. Rey straightened and shut off the communication but the simplicity of smashing the computer in front of her. The punch busted her knuckles open making them bleed, but the screen went dark then flickered to life with the cubes approach. 

“I’ve got a plan, Poe, I can possibly escape on a shuttle, send a distress call out. They can’t assimilate me. Not without infecting the ENTIRE collective with Luke’s code. Yes, it would happen.” she turned her back towards the screen. “They would need… need to take me into a unimatrix, or trimatrix, into borg controlled space in order to do what they want. Otherwise I can take full control of the cube and shut it down.” 

“How?” Poe asked. 

“Luke… I think Luke is part of dominion, and the entire borg is because of them. It’s… complicated. But they will take us, assimilate all of you, and have to take me to a core… a queen.” she explained. “Otherwise they can’t actually get any information.” 

“You locked the weapons, can you access them from here? We might set them off and disable the cube.” Poe told her. Rey looked up to the screen. 

“It would kill everyone that… that has been assimilated.” Poe grimaced. “I can get away.” 

“Again, why can I trust you. You said ALL of you want to rejoin the collective.” Rey straightened looking down to her feet. 

“I don’t, not anymore. Luke’s coding is like… the first coding down, what the nano-probes were originally. Since its integrated into my brain… the portion that is changed… they can’t access my mind without having my code, HIS code, infect the ENTIRE borg. That is plan B. Luke will be able to disable every single borg in the entire known galaxy. They can’t get rid of the coding since it is the base.” Poe took a deep breath in. 

“Either way… there is no chance other than me escaping on an auxiliary ship getting a distress call sent out that can save… everyone. The process can be reversed, you need to trust that.” 

“Or we can kill her.” said one of the people. Poe held his hand up. 

“I think I would like that.” Rey replied quietly. “But they would eventually get into the weapon, and then use it against our ships and bases. All in one strike…. We won’t have a chance to strike back.” she explained. “So long as I am alive, their most logical is to try to turn me. It will take years to unlock what I placed down.” 

“The Federation will know what happened to us!” Finn yelled out. 

“No. We will be just another missing ship.” Poe told everyone coldly. “Like with the colonies taken.” Finn blanched. Warnings started to blare out, telling them that the lifeboat was starting to fail. Likely being hacked by the cube. 

“Rey, are you sure you can do this?” Poe asked her. She nodded. “Kill Hux.” 

“Yes Sir.” she whispered when the entire room was filled with more nitrus oxide than normal oxygen. One by one everyone began dropping due to the gas, Rey lasted long enough for the cube to fill the screen. 

**  
  
**

The drones made their way into the lifeboat silent say for the motion of their bodies. One of them grabbed Rey, being careful with her. More so than the others who were dragged out. Their orders were simple assimilate, but the one taking Rey orders were complicated. It quickly brought her out of the environment which could eventually kill her or damage her brain. A small breathing mask, taken from the USS Finalizer was placed over her face, and a small tank was placed onto the drone who carried it further into the cube. 

Briefly one minor drone tried to gain entrance into her mind, but it died the moment it tried to connect to her, the shock from leaving the collective killing it. She was placed into a small nook, carefully laid down, and the drone that carried her was placed in front of the nook and told to watch, to wait. To protect and to make sure that she didn’t harm herself. This was its mission, this was what it was meant to do and it held no thought else. The tank and air was taken by another as it watched her. 

Rey woke gasping in air and ripping off the mask before she sat up fully. Rey glanced around her, her mind and heart racing. She froze when she saw the drone staring at her its blinks coming at too steady intervals. Rey shivered hugging herself as she stood. “I’m Rey.” she told the Drone who didn’t speak. “I suppose you’re a guard?” she asked. It still didn’t speak barely moved even. Rey took a long moment to examine the drone. It wasn’t one of the crew members now assimilated. 

He was tall, tall enough he had to hunch in the corridor, completely bald, he had a large nose, and two normal human ears. He looked human enough, though with drones sometimes even then it was hard to know. He could be a klingon, so utterly assimilated from various species that there was no brow ridge, but in essence he looked like anyone she had ever seen. “Did they try to assimilate me?” she asked the drone knowing it wouldn’t answer. The fact she was here speaking said that it didn’t work or they didn’t try. “Where is…” Rey paused. 

“Where is One of eight?” she asked. The drone moved just a little. 

“One of eight is in the main computer.” it answered in a deep raspy voice. Rey smiled to him. 

“Who… designation?” she questioned standing up. 

“Six of three, Tactical Drone of Unimatrix fourteen.” he answered. 

“Impressive. Fourteen? You’re pretty early, or lucky.” the drone stayed silent. 

“I’m Twenty of Twenty.” the drone took a step towards her. 

“You are Unimatrix 7812.” he stated flatly. Rey stared at him mind blank as she processed what the drone told her. “You are not repaired. You will be taken to be repaired, please remain calm 7812.” Rey swallowed stepping away from the drone and settling herself on the floor. She checked herself mentally and put her hands to her face feeling nothing more than flesh and sighing in relief. Her hair wasn’t falling out either with a quick check. 

“How much of my brain has been consumed?” she asked herself, it was hard to say for her own self. A tap to the side of her head didn’t sound hollow. But the slightly metallic ting that was in her skull sounded. The highly compact portion of her brain growing out to encompass over half of the grey matter with little difficulty in keeping her mind whole and intact. It took up less space then all the other things filtering into her head. Even as cut off from the cube it still was transmitting into her brain. “So I’m a core then?” she asked, but the drone didn’t answer. The answer was in her brain. “My DNA? Am I being converted to one of those species?” she asked and still the drone was silent. So she asked her brain, no. It was too dangerous to try to command the probes inside of her. They could infect the rest of the cube, and the rest of the collective all across the galaxy within moments.

“Thank Q for Luke.” she mumbled and turned back to the drone. She was going to be a unimatrix, which meant she might be able to control it. The notion left her feeling sick and she drew her knees to her chest as she curled up on the floor the drone watching her. “I need food and water.” she told the drone. Then grimaced as it rose its hand, and a long tube shot out from the wall to land directly in front of her face. 

“7812 open your mouth.” the drone stated. Rey turned her face away from it, and then the drone with a large hand grabbed her forcing her to the wall. “OPEN.” she grit her teeth. The drone came around caging her against the wall, its other hand, a set of various things, under her chin. The whole human hand went around her chin and forced her mouth open. The tube went down her throat choking her. It made its way down into her stomach and then started to fill it, winding its way out as she gagged. The drone stepped away letting her drop coughing to the floor as it duty was done now. 

It was still there blinking at the completely too steady intervals as she recovered herself. Rey touched her neck and then huddled into herself. Slowly the drone approached her making her flinch. The drone stalled, and then turned its back on her, staring off away from her into the corridor. That was when she heard the approaching footsteps, so the odd thing that the drone did was taken out of her mind. Unhurried and at least five of them as they stalled near her. The drone moved aside, as she stared to the other wall. “Twenty of Twenty.” she didn’t look up. It was Hux along with several guards around him. 

“7812.” Hux stated. Rey didn’t respond, only staring at the wall. 

“REY NIIMA. USS Finalizer Engineer. Graduate class 2414.” Rey went on, repeating the mantra three times before she looked up to Hux. 

“You will rejoin.” he stated. He was still mostly himself, although the change was happening fairly fast. Already the same eye that had been replaced was now with what most drones had. He extended his hand out to her. “You know how to reverse Luke’s coding.” Hux told her. She smiled. “You will reverse it and rejoin the collective.” 

“No.” Hux bent down reaching out again. She pressed herself further against the wall. Hux grabbed her wrist, twisting it but then was yanked back, being thrown against the wall by the drone that was her guard. 

“You were damaging 8712.” the drone stated and stood in front of her. Hux groaned as he pushed himself up, his guards doing nothing to protect him. Rey glanced up to the drone and then back to Hux. “You will refrain from nearing 8712.” For a moment Hux look scared, showing that he probably wasn’t as fully in the collective as he wanted to be. But then he left leaving her alone with the drone. 

“Thank you.” Rey told the drone, it made no response, standing in front of her as the footsteps retreated. “Six of three?” The drone turned back to her. “Thank you.” the drone made no response turning back to the corridor. She shivered, the air was just barely tolerable and with a hiss the ‘proper’ air filtration was kicked on. Rey let out the last breath of clean air and tasted the various chemicals pushing through the air. 

Rey blinked as the last of her human brain was finally taken completely over by the implant. A shudder went through her body, but that was all that happened, no devices were poking through her skin, and she knew they wouldn’t until the probes were ‘re-established’. They needed her, as it would take years to unlock the weapon, Rey had been extremely careful with it. Knowing any computerized copy could be taken by the borg locking everything with the most sophisticated locks in the Federation.

She needed to escape, and at the moment she only had one choice really. A few drones passed by, and she stood, the one guard she had didn’t stop her as she grabbed one drone. Its designation flickering behind her eyes. Eleven of seventy, she let the tiny tubes out connecting to the drone and injecting Luke’s coding into it. The drone collapsed, and briefly its one eye flickered to life before it completely died. Not a single one of the other drones reacted she stepped away and the cube quickly consumed the body. Not likely to do anything other then dispose of it. 

She tried once more before her guard stopped her, the drone dying just the same as the other. She was placed back into the small hollow, as the cube shifted around her. Information racing behind her eyes, the other half of the cube had been placed with this other and was being repaired. The power flicked on fully, and now crew members of the USS Finalizer could be seen roaming the halls repairing small portions. She looked to the guard drone. “You know, you could at least talk.” she said to it. 

“Talking is unnecessary.” it responded. She smiled. “You will state if you are wounded.” Rey shook her head. “I can not access you, you will state if you are wounded.” 

“I am fine Six of three.” she replied finally. The drone turned back away from her. “Why did you let me try to take those others?” 

“Necessary for tests.” she blinked feeling out the information in her head. In order to see if she could in fact be turned back, those drones were cut from the collective the moment Luke’s coding infected them. “7821 you are not part of the collective. You will be repaired, we require you.” Rey nodded. “Please do not harm yourself.” Rey blinked at that. She could self terminate, but that wouldn’t save the crew and wouldn’t save Poe. 

“I don’t plan to.” she answered. The drone was quiet again and she turned to it. “Who were you?” she asked quietly, but it didn’t answer. Who he was wasn’t information in her head, but she knew each new drones, all former crew, designations. 

Her mind worked fast, and she stood up. “I’m sorry.” she told the drone, it didn’t try to fight back against her as she put a hand onto its back. But it slumped almost painfully down as her mind connected to his, taking him into her head. She could control him and slid him down, feeling the drone inside her mind, and then shock, then horror, like she had just woken up from the same nightmare that she had spent years getting over from her childhood. 

**  
  
**

He gasped in eyes trying to focus on the blurry image in front of her. “Hey, are you okay?” she asked. “Answer me? I can… look at me.” his eyes focused onto her and his heart didn’t race. His lungs breathed steady rhythm, and he didn’t even control his blinks. “Are you okay?” her hand reached out touching his cheek, her warmth bleeding into his cold skin. His brain registered everything about her. From her heart rate to the flaws in her structure to best attack. She needed to rejoin the collective, that part was inside his head like a clarion.

“You must rejoin.” he stated and then blinked rapidly. 

“Hi there.” she said and smiled to him. Some portion of his mind knew everything about her, but he wasn’t processing it fully anymore. “Are you okay?” she asked him. “Can you tell me your name?” 

“Si… Ben.” he said and tried to raise his hand, soft horror ran into him as he focused on the fact that he only had one human hand left. “Where am I?” she smiled down at him. An angel, he thought and she blinked. Finally an angel had come to release him from his torment. She reached out taking his hand and squeezing it. 

“You are here with me.” she told him. It eased down inside of him, relaxing his mind and body. “Ben? Got a last name?” she asked him and her eyes tracked down him. He breathed in sitting up and getting her squeak in distress with the sudden movement. 

“Solo.” he answered. He rose his maimed hand staring at it, she reached out to touch it down. 

“What did you do Ben?” she smiled at him. His mind ran through things. 

“Freighter. I was a freighter pilot.” he felt a pleased sense, and stared at her. She was blinking at him. Still that connection was inside of his head to her, that concerned her, it concerned her deeply, but she was pleased when he answered her questions. At that pleased him. 

“That’s… good.” he reached out running a hand over his chest. She was reading vital signs, and he stood, she backed away from him. 

“WHAT AM I?” he demanded, the angel stood. “WHO…” he approached her and she backed away scared. He stopped immediately. 

“Its okay.” she soothed. She raised her hand touching his cheek. “You’re my only hope Ben.” his mind eased, and every cell of his body needed to obey her. “Freight work is pretty dangerous. All that unknown space right?” 

“Where… AM I?” he demanded to her. Her smile fell, and with it he knew. 

“You’re over three hundrend years old… You must be singularly stubborn guy.” the praise withered inside of him. Three hundred years, the shock dulled as it refused to make him do anything other then feel the mental anguish of utterly unknown time racing inside of him. “Hey, it’s okay.” 

“8721 what…” she put a hand to his neck. 

“My name is Rey, and you are Ben.” her name raced into his head. “We need to get out of this place okay?” he nodded to her. “I need your help, and… I’m sorry…” he didn’t know why she felt so horrible, but needed to soothe, the dichotomy of his panic and the utter need to do whatever she wanted making him frozen. But then that too was wiped out. 

“Ugn, I’m hungry how about you?” 

“You are not required food for a further…” he began and then stopped. Touching the ship’s walls. They obeyed him, shooting out a pipe. She looked down with a frown and opened her mouth gagging as it was shoved into her mouth. He knew she was being fed, and knew that she was showing him, what he must do to himself as well. All of this was inside of his mind, but yet not utterly there. Another one waited and he followed suit, he himself not gagging on the mix that sustained all the drones. 

He looked down at his hands again, only one was left the other a horror of things that were mainly weapons. “Hey hey, look at me.” his focus was taken to her as she stepped up to him. Both her hands touching him. “Oh wow, you have one of those plasma blades.” She was staring at him and he realized he could see himself, at least a hazy version, through her eyes. “Its okay.” she soothed, but panic and horror was consuming him again. 

“WHAT THE FUCK AM I?” he demanded her. “What happened?” his hacked off arm was on her shoulder as the other was on the other, he couldn’t do anything else than that, it could hurt her. She felt afraid for a moment, and he recoiled away, she was afraid of him. 

“Ben.” she spoke, heading towards him. She reached out resting both her hands onto his chest. “It’s okay, this can be reversed, we just have to get away.” the ship lurched a little and she looked away eyes distant. “Fuck, they have the warp engines running. We need to get to a small ship.” 

“Rey, what am I? What did they do to me? Where is my...my dad. Where is my dad? Where is Chewie?” she looked away from him. 

“They might still be on the ship.” he knew it was something of a deflection. “What do you remember Ben?” Rey reached out hand cupping his cheek.

“What did they do to me?” he asked her again. 

“You don’t want to know.” he felt her own kind of horror, softened by a clinical sort of knowledge.

“What. Did. They. Do. To. Me.” She let out a breath. 

“It depends on how in depth you want me to go.” Rey shivered, the air was just under comfortable for her and he wanted to increase the temperature but he didn’t have access to that. Nor… Ben realized he was technically naked in front of her and her fleet uniform. She started laughing, feeling that from him. “You’re not naked.” He felt a smile pull at his lips.

“Rey, what happened to me?” 

“It looks like you were taken on a long trip, were you asleep at the time?” he tried to remember and didn’t know for sure. “Anyway… this is a borg cube, and you are a borg… and so am I.” he let out a breath, realizing he could hyperventilate now. “I think soon enough after you were taken that the cube that took you was shut down which let you keep yourself. The longer you are part of the main… collective, the less likely you are to be able to come back.” it didn’t answer many of the questions he still had. 

“They… injected you with… nanites basically, and then you changed.” she reached out and he realized then he only had one eye as well, the other taken up by some kind of monstrosity. “It is those that cause a good portion of the… parts that are inside of you. However they removed your eye, and your left hand.” she sounded clinical, and it was likely the only thing that kept him from feeling further horror. “They also modified portions of your intestines and gastric system in order to derive more perfect nutrition from the nutrimix they use to feed all the drones.” she went on. “Thankfully, though they didn’t get to replace your adrenal glands with a klingons.” 

“Klingons? Those bastards that…” he dropped off as she shook her head. “We made them allies? HOW WHEN?” 

“You’ve been asleep for a really long time Ben, I can’t go into the history of the Federation. We need to get away.” Ben let his mind linger over just what he learned, and her desperate need to flee, to get out and away. To even help all the others on his ship, she wanted to help everyone, get them away from this machine horror. 

“How… how can we even get away?” he asked her. 

“We won’t know until we try. We might be able to get to one of the escape pods of the ship I was on. If they haven’t been disassembled. But this cube has several small auxiliary ships we can try one of those and send out a distress call to the federation.” that idea didn’t settle well with her, but she didn’t mention why and he could only feel that would cause the deaths of many she didn’t want. “Or we could maybe find out where they are storing my weapon.” 

“Weapon? You made a weapon?” the knowledge was there in his head, but yet not. It was extremely important to her and might be the utter reason why she was even here.

“Yeah… come on.” Rey pushed past him heading into the corridors. “It works like an emp, sort of.” she explained quickly. He realized she was also ‘dumbing’ things down. He had another short lived panic over just how utterly advanced things could have become while he was gone, but that was only just another mounting crisis on top of all the others. 

“My… my dad. Is he alive?” he asked her quietly. Rey winced, stalling to allow a few drones, all wearing the same kind of uniform as her passing by. She felt so horrible about it, and then a deep burning anger over someone else. HUX. The name burned into his head as his enemy as well. 

“Do you want me to lie to you?” she asked him and he shuddered following her further into the cube. 

“No.” 

“He is dead. Organs and more harvested… you have his liver.” he froze still. “I’m so sorry.” he felt something enter into his head, and it was a memory. A memory from her. She was so tiny, and she watched as older people, some even older than his father had been, were taken apart harvested of all that the borg found useful in them. He didn’t recall it happening to his father, but then so much had happened that he never recalled. All remembered was that he had been in a hell of screaming minds barely strung together in a whole. Then Rey saved him. His queen saved him. 

“I want...these things dead.” he admitted letting everything else start to sink into him. He wasn’t sure if he could ever get over it, even if they were successful. 

“You’re not the only one. I’m so sorry.” she pressed herself against the wall as a ‘soldier’ troop passed by them, each one glancing to them. But otherwise not a single one tried to harm them, or interfere with them. “So long as we are just wandering around they won’t hurt us, the moment we try to activate an escape pod, or anything like that we… we will be lucky to die before they take us again.” he nodded. “The same with the weapon.” 

“What are you?” Ben asked her. She flinched and actually shook, briefly her own horror passed into him. No she wasn’t unique, but they had done something that… that created order of a billion voices. She was a queen, core, and he was under her control, but not utterly. 

“I’ll be lucky to stay a human.” she answered and her horror ceased entering into him. She didn’t want to have control of him, but he took an infesticimal part of her own mind. It was like looking into a deep well that small glimpse he saw and felt. He reached out to her, his hand touching her cheek he was hers. The vast bit of her brain had even made him a designation. One of One primary Adjunct of Unimatrix 8721. He was the only one in her head, she was his utterly and this stroked something inside of his head. He wasn’t sure if it was the human portion or not. 

“I’m okay.” he told her. “Let me take point. You are…” she was frowning. “We can get out of here. I’m a pilot.” he replied, she smiled to him. Still the memories were trying to come back, certain that he would remember things in a less clinical fashion. He knew he had a family, but he didn’t remember his family names at all. But he knew his name, he knew what she did, but didn’t know why. “I think… I think I discovered these…” one of the drones passed by. 

Her mind saw it was an unknown alien and so did he. It wasn’t the one she saw first, but the species was humanoid. With a ‘crown’ of horns around its bald hairless head. Black tattoos stood out against the pale grey skin. “They were running. And wanted fuel, I was carrying that. We exchanged… things, but it… it found us.” Rey nodded. 

“The memories will come back, sometimes it takes months.” she told him. They came to a larger opening, were there were drones being repaired. He felt sick as several of them were opened up with slack faces with their internal organs exposed still working. “Come on.” She guided him away, heading further into the cube. There was something about that, that completely and utterly unsettled her in the most particular way. 

It was like when he had to go home and talk to his mo….Ben stalled and she turned to him. She felt like ‘this is something that is going to happen’ whether or not she wants it or not. His mind raced, and he knew so many things as he went completely still. “You need a power core.” she flinched turning to him. “You will die soon.” he added again. She didn’t move fast enough as he grabbed her arm, any damage taken to her was minimal compared to her death. 

“BEN, BEN please!” she shouted. Part of him was completely mortified, but he was dragging her towards the others and on cue several converged on her. 

“Unimatrix 8721 you require a power core.” said one as it took her from him. Rey grit her teeth and then slumped down relaxing. Hurt, and betrayal flooded into his head from her, but he couldn’t move as she was taken into a small corner. He couldn’t see her, but he could feel the terror, and hurt. Which was much worse to him, Ben took a step, but then froze again. The command roaring through his head. 

  1. **YOU WILL BE HURT. STAY.**



It was her voice, and he had to obey. The connection he felt dulled down, and for a moment he felt the worst headache he had ever felt which obliterated every thought out. He came to his body shuffled to a small area as he lumbered up free to move and act. She was nothing but a small mutter in the back of his head, a small process of information filtering behind his eyes. There was still drones, things like him, being repaired as he walked towards where they had her, and found her unconscious. 

Flesh was crudely drawn back together with staples, with black tubes running from her back to her head. Blood was nearly all over, with a small tube of it hanging into her arm from the wall pumping a near black substance that creeped into her skin like infection. Still that information was in his head, but something ticked down.

**Remove Unimatrix 8721 in three hours.**

**Damage minimal.**

**Powercore Active.**

Her uniform was discarded to the side, the loose undershirt just simply cut into without care for sanitation, the same with the head. They didn’t bother to shave her head, just having cut circles into her head for the small tubes now connecting the power core in her chest. Her heart was gone, replaced by the power core and the substance being pumped into her was a replacement for blood that all of them had. Even him. The powercore would keep her alive working to keep her mind functioning fully. It was even special, a certain type that would remain active and functioning far better than his. 

Without much care to anything the tube in her vein retracted, leaking the substance out. Ben glanced around, and gathered her into his arms, careful not to jar the stapled skin too much as she moaned faintly. He was able to grab the star fleet top that she must have removed herself and then took her away from the table and repair room. She was still silent as he traversed the corridors towards some kind of unknown destination. 

He stopped at a part of the ship that had to have been cannibalized from her ship, and he could only guess it because it was clean looking. It wasn’t the black ubiquitous corridors as he actually found a bed. Likely was waiting to be filled with something, he settled her down. There was no mattress as he slowly ran his… well his eye over her. The nan-probes inside of her were working fast, efficient. They were healing the skin damage, patching the skin with silvery looking metallic threads. Which quickly turned black as the ‘resources’ of her body ran out making them use the substance they replaced her, and his blood with. 

She shivered, and he tried to put the top back on her, but he did only have one hand so all he could do was lie the top over her mostly bare torso. He rested his normal hand on her cheek, touching the lips. “My mom’s name is Leia.” he told her, the memory surfacing. “She never liked any of my girlfriends.” he added. Most of them were not even people he well and truly liked either if he was honest with himself. His dad said nothing, but his mom hated, despised, ranted, about how much she hated him taking up Han… his father’s work. 

“I’m sorry.” he tried, but she was still unconscious. He didn’t know why he did this to her, and right now a terror was running its course into him. In the small space he folded himself closer to her arms protectively over her as more drones passed by paying them no head at all. “Please keep talking to me. I don’t know what the hell is going on.” he told her. 

**One of One. Ben.**

He blinked. 

**Are you okay?**

His mind was racing, he couldn’t hear her talking but she was in his head talking. 

“8...Rey?” he called down, but she was still. He closed his eyes, and felt that connection in a purely mental sense. 

_ Rey? _

**I’m still alive. Are you safe?**

_ Yes?  _ He felt the most bizarre sense of relaxation. Relief. She had been so worried about him even though he had done this to her. 

_ I’m so sorry- _

**It’s okay. You didn’t… you couldn’t do anything to stop it.**

_ What happened? _

**Give me a moment, I’m almost done. I don’t know if you’ll be okay when I do this.**

Ben opened his eyes and watched as her eyes flickered raidily behind her eyelids. He let out a long held in breath. Then every bit of his mind was taken out from his body. He felt his body slump down, but that was the last of it. His eyes went blank until he felt a hand out and close his eyes then blinked them open again. 

“I should have told you to close your eyes I’m sorry.” Rey told him. He was in a mostly white space, with white couches and a large white table. “Are you okay?” he felt a probe, mental as she checked him and then her relief as he stood up. 

“What…” he looked down at his hands. Both of them. He recoiled back away from her looking over himself. He was wearing what he remembered last. Jeans, a white shirt, and a thick tooled leather vest. He even had his toolbelt on his waist that also had a bolter, that he had personally modified to a gun. He even had shoes as he looked to her and then back to his hands. “What the fuck is this?” 

“This is in my… brain.” she told him. She didn’t look any different then when he saw her for the first time. There was no harm done, no scarred skin, no maimed head. She looked, beautiful, to say the least. “Would you prefer looking like a drone?” he shook himself. He raised his hand up and ran a hand through his hair. “Black hair? I didn’t know you had black hair.” he looked down at her. 

“I’m in your head.” she nodded. “Why?” 

“I’m incapcitated, at least physically Ben.” he looked around himself at the white space. “Its okay.” 

“What… did they do to you?” he asked her. She frowned hand resting down onto the table. A small screen popped up and he saw a sort of medical diagram. 

“It didn’t hurt for long. The nano-probes… basically shut off my nerve endings. Otherwise everyone… all drones and such could die of shock.” she told him distantly. The mostly human diagram had the internal heart, taken out and replaced with a large ‘core’ for power. As they did that, the valves to it were shunted off, then attached. The liquid was put into her veins, as her blood was replaced with it all.

“Are… Rey, are you okay?” she didn’t move. “Why did I do this…” 

“It’s part of your programming and I can’t stop it without hurting you.” she told him not looking to him. “Its okay. You were right in that otherwise I was going to die…. I couldn’t stop myself from heading towards that place either.” Ben slowly walked towards her. 

“What are you?” 

“Unimatrix, I’m basically a core of the borg.” he shook his head and reached out touching her shoulder. He didn’t feel her, at least at first, but his mind supplied the feeling just after that. “You know computers right? Think of me like a mainframe.” He turned her towards him. “Ben?” 

“Stop acting like this is normal. This is the most fucked up thing.” He grabbed her other shoulder. “Why aren’t you acting…” 

“Ben. I’m a Starfleet graduate who’s entire ship was taken over. The only hope I have to actually save all the people on my ship is to send a distress call or try to get a small ship that has warp.” she was shaking. “Even then… I don’t even know if I can actually… go back.” 

“Go back to what?” he asked her. She raised her hand and touched the side of her head. 

“I, my personality, who I am Ben, is less than .4% of what is up here. You are .5%.” she smiled at him. “There is no actual… human brain in my head anymore.” He put his hands onto her cheeks. “I think I was always chosen for this…. Since I was first captured.” 

“You…” she broke away and sighed. “Rey?” 

“It’s time to wake up.” 

“No I…” she smiled to him reaching out and taking his hand again. 

“Ben it’s okay. I’m okay.” He shook his head. 

“That’s not what I…” 

“Ben, this is a fake place. And Hux is about to kill you to get you off me.” it was like he had been stabbed when he left the ‘room’ inside of her head. He woke just before ‘hux’ could do much other then get knocked backwards as he stood rapidly turning to a very changed ‘Hux.’ While Ben didn’t know much, he knew in some way his build was superior than ‘Hux’. Hux still had both hands, and had only one eye, the other taken by the implants. 

His shoulders sprouted two small turrets, phasers he knew in a deep place in his head. They trained on him but did nothing else as Rey groaned behind him. “8721, are you well?” Hux asked. Ben felt his eye twitch. Could he kill Hux and not face these things harming him and Rey? 

**No. You will be hurt.**

Rey said inside of his head. 

**Please, I don’t want to lose you.**

“You will not go near her.” Ben told Hux. If it was human anymore. 

“You’ve taken to your role.” Hux’s voice was flat as Rey pushed herself up, grabbing the shirt and quickly putting it on to the best she could with shaking hands. “Are you ready 8721?” 

“Fuck off and die traitor.” Rey snapped. Hux turned to her eyes fixed on her as she stood leaning on his body to steady herself. “You’re not going to get me to take you. I’m not a fucking queen.” 

“Queen is not a term that applies to you.” Hux said simply. Ben would say different to the both of them. “You are necessary. You are a core.” 

“Hey Hux, did you know that you can’t hurt me so long as I don’t KILL you?” Rey told him, pushing past Ben. “Don’t.” she told him before he could even try to move to protect her. Hux didn’t move as she stepped towards him, then punched him in the face. “That was for Poe.” She reached her hand out as Hux remained still his head cocked to the side from the blow but otherwise unmoving. “Come on Ben.” 

“One of One must be repaired to meet needs required of designation.” Hux stated. 

“He suits me just fine like he is.” Rey reached back grabbing him and guiding him away. 

“You will come to us 8721.” Hux said as they left further going into the maze that was the ship they were in. Rey only stopped in what was a small series of ports. Something in his head told him this connected to the outside, to space. He grabbed her elbow, and stopped himself before he could pull her away. 

“We would have to act fast, while they don’t care that we wander around… they will move in force the moment we try.” Rey told him as he forced himself to let her go. Rey glanced around watching a few drones all of them seemed to be just waiting for them to even try to escape. 

“Rey, can we actually escape?” he asked her. She looked fairly panicked, pressing herself against the wall of somewhere. Her eyes locked on one of the drones who was wearing the remains of the uniform. He saw that every single drone here was wearing the uniform. One of them had clumps of hair falling out, one of those on his shoulder. 

“Captain?” she breathed out. It was a simple thing, just another maintenance drone. She slowly approached it as it was in the process of taking out portions of a shuttercraft, escape pod her mind told him, apart to be used for somewhere in the ship. “Poe?” the drone didn’t even seem to ackowledge she existed. 

“Twenty seven of forty?” the drone straightened looking to her. “You’re Poe damereon.” it went back to work. She was horrified, completely shaking as he came up behind her putting his whole arm around her. Rey leaned back into him. 

“Can you… bring him in?” Ben asked her, a small sob escaped her. She turned into him face pressed against his chest only able to dry heave as she cried. The more people in her head, the more she became like that ‘core’ of the borg. There was no even telling just how ‘intact’ her personality would stay, he felt from her. Already there was bleed over from him. Rey never would have punched Hux, she knew better than to try to damage any borg. But he would have, he would have done everything he could to kill that thing called Hux. 

He leaned down, lips just brushing the top of her head. At one point, he read from her mind, she was excited to have made a ‘human’ connection. But that was a lie and complete shock of all that this traitor had been so long before he came into the cube. A portion of Hux was inside of her mind even. Working away to make her into a core further. “I… don’t know what to do.” Rey admitted to him. 

He knew that all the shuttle pods that had warp were taken out, leaving them even if they took one pod unable to escape. The borgs shuttles had no warp either, leaving them without much of a plan other than death and destruction. He kissed her again. Rey finally seemed to realize he had kissed her a shock running through her mind. 

Her first actual 'kiss' from anyone that wasn't strictly platonic or 'greeting practice' from a type of alien he didn't know that was completely green skinned. His hand touched her back, feeling bonelike protrusions coming off her spine. In a place in his mind it was further change showing what she was. 

Auxiliary connectors that would eventually be connected into the borg matrix. Eventually obliterating everything that made up 'Rey' once connected. He wanted her to feel better, he didn't know how exactly to. But a portion of his wrist slotted out, connecting a tube to one of them making her body stiffen. A small thing in the place of one of his kidneys secreted a mix of various chemicals. Usually reserved to ‘reward’ him, or in his case to keep him more docil, they were injected directly into her spine. Dopamine, serotonin, among the less notable chemicals. 

A low moan came from her throat and then she relaxed. A flood of endorphins rushing through her. The tube retreated as he bent down careful of the implant in place of an eye to kiss her. Lips drawing hers out with his teeth gently playing against her bottom lip as he kissed her. 

Her thoughts about Hux, about possibly making that final sort of innate human connection sated in her. She made a high noise of distress as he picked her feet up with one arm driving her against the nearest stable object. She was his, no one else's, how dare that interloper think he could connect to her. "Ben." She breathed out, it felt like a bit of a plea. 

"Shhh… let me make things better." He soothed. Her hands were gripping him, as he at least with one hand, got her so that her legs slotted around his waist. "I can give you everything." While he could most definitely tell he wasn't castrated his 'blood' did not pump further down to engorge him. Which was frustrating to say the least. 

“Ben please.” she begged. He stopped only to kiss the side of her neck. A bit of fear was running its course in her to the point she was shaking. Her hands were at his shoulders nails digging into his skin causing surface damage. “Please.” 

“I can make you feel good.” more memories, brought on by the situation came up and while her body did not flush, her mind did. 

“What are you Captain Kirk?” he stopped blinking as she tried to push him off her. “Ben, I need you to stop.” Slowly, he drew himself away from her gritting his teeth. “Now… now is not the time for that.” she looked to the other drones, they paid them no head. But the uncomfortable feeling finally passed into him, along with the desire to just get it over with. 

“Why didn’t you just stop me?” She stared at him and then away. 

“Then it wouldn’t be you.” he swallowed. “I don’t want to do… that unless I have to.” she explained. “I’m fine, it’s just… I’ve never done that.” the slight rush of chemicals faded fast, he would probably need… adjustments in order to- He shook his head. “Come on.” 

“Where to now?” She stopped just turning towards a corridor. 

**This can only be said here. We are going to destroy the cube. We are going to take a long route towards my weapon and then I will manually set it off.**

Ben couldn’t move, and now his mind raced to detain her. He shut it out. 

**It will kill me and you, and everyone else on this ship. You were lucky that this cube went to standby. Then no other borg ship was nearby enough to sense this place. Its also a miracle the standby power lasted for centuries.**

A small smile took her lips as she reached out for him. 

“We… need some type of sleep. Let’s find a safe place…” He took her hand, letting her pull him away from the former captain of her ship. 

_ I don’t think I can allow you to do this. _

He told her through their mental link.

**I know. But it’s the only chance to prevent them from getting anything they want. Which is better then any other plan.**

_ You can still send a distress call.  _

**BEN. I don’t want more people hurt and killed. This way, the least amount of people die.**

_ SEND A DISTRESS CALL.  _

Rey stopped letting go of his hand to clutch her head. “I guess… we can take this path.” she stalled. Several things came from her, confusion. But now she was heading towards a ‘communications’ area without much anything of protest. 

“Rey?” he called she stopped looking back to him. 

“Yes? Are you okay?” Ben nodded. He searched inside of his head, and found something that disturbed him. While she could mentally command him, it was his duty to prevent all harm to her. Which can override any command she could give, and could even… override her mind. It left him feeling sick, he quickly hid it from her. He thought simply about fucking her. Having her pull back as far as possible from his mind long enough so that he could shunt the command, and memory of it, to a place she couldn’t touch without invading his utterly personal thoughts. Which she seemed unwilling to do. 

“I’m okay.” he told her finally. “Are you still okay?” She shrugged. 

“As well as I can be.” Ben grit his teeth following her. It seemed to take forever for them to get to the comications room. It held only enough room for one of them, just a closet really. He blinked as he stared at it, it looked like the food stock closet that was on his father’s ship. “I’ll stay out here and guard.” 

**I think I know who to call. If anyone can help us and not lose more life it would be a being known as Q.**

She told him in his head. He flinched as she passed through into the closet. 

**It will take awhile for me to triangulate his last known position and send a call there.**

_ Will, this thing know?  _

**I don’t actually know. But if it does come across it, it can manipulate time.**

_ How is that even possible?  _

**You think I know? All I know this being is extremely powerful from the records of Starfleet. It’s really the only hope of saving everyone without loss of life.**

_ You care so much about people you don’t even know. _

It wasn’t an accusation although it felt like it to him. 

**You, me, everyone here we all have no choice. These people never chose to be a part of the borg, and its likely the aliens here were running from the borg themselves. I want to save them Ben. I want to save everyone. It will be awhile, try to rest okay?**

He could feel it, feel the desperate want to help everyone in the borg. But unable to. How the longer someone is part of the collective the less likely they will come back. How those drones died because of her. How she dived into what she was becoming in order to bring him out of things, and never expected him to be able to come out of it like he was.

Something licked at his brain and he turned, watching as Hux slowly walked towards him. “Is she safe?” Hux asked him. He prepared himself to kill this traitor. 

“You don’t touch her.” he told Hux. Hux wasn’t moving, only staring at him with the utterly uncanny blinks that came at regular intervals. 

“She can not be allowed to harm herself One of One.” Hux told him. “You must protect her.” 

“She can…” he looked back over his shoulder. Doing a quick check, it was odd to say the least. She was there but yet not, mind fully trying to work around something to send the message out that she wanted. “Rey?” 

“We will allow the message, after you and we have spoken.” Ben turned back to Hux. “You must not harm 8721.” 

“Her name is Rey.” 

“Irrelevant. 8721 is important.” Ben glared back to Hux. Of course she was important, she was the most important part of his life. His very existence was dedicated to her. 

“How can I even trust you?” He took a breath in, staring at the smaller thing. It wasn’t exactly human to him unlike with how Rey thought. At some point this had been a man. 

“8721 is most important. 8721 has gone rogue and must rejoin the collective. You will keep 8721 calm until 8721 can be repaired.” Parts of him wanted to obey, other parts felt sickened. He couldn’t help her destroy this ship, it would kill her, and… Ben blinked. He could help her set the bombs to be exploded, then from there take her to escape. Getting her off this ship before it would explode, or do whatever it did, and then she would be safe. “8721 must be further adjusted. Damage will occur if not.” Ben slowly looked up and down Hux. 

“What adjustment?” he asked. 

“Removal of unnecessary interals.” His stomach roiled at the thought. Already her heart was gone what else could she lose? 

“Details?” Hux blinked off balanced. He slowly examined the other, going down to the coding that he could almost feel coming off him. He never had much mind for coding, but even he could tell whoever programed these things was insane. Nothing made much sense in the jumble, but there was a constant. That was mainly the core directives of the borg, written to his cells. But there was something else, working its way through the coding, like a small rocky shoal just barely peeking over the turbulent water. 

“Removal of 29% of intestinal tract, removal of one kidney, replaced by part 4-a7.” Hux droned. “Connection to the main computer can not be accomplished until proper repair is done. 8721 must be placed into stasis within,” Ben started to ignore him. Most of it was just, taking parts out of her, while part of him was thrilled another was sickened by the notion. She was so lucky to become more like she was supposed to. He must do it, he had to do it to her. She would be damaged and hurt, but then she would be less like Rey wouldn’t she? 

“Hux it was?” Ben asked. The drone stopped talking. 

“Irrelevant name. Designation Evelen of Eight.” the drone told him. 

“You’re not fully part of the borg are you?” Hux took a step away from him. 

“Communication allowed, quadrant empty. No chance of communication with threat.” Hux started moving away from him. 

“She won’t allow you in her head.” Hux froze, and looked back to him. He couldn’t kill him, or damage the other drone. “She’s mine.” Hux turned fully to him. “You won’t be what you want to ever.” 

“Irrelevant.” Hux turned back less stiff than he had before. But as the man walked away with was with the less mechanical walk, and more of an angry strut. Never did one think there was a hierarchy of drones, but he knew he was better than Hux. Even with the modifications of his body. Those phasers would not fully harm him before he killed Hux. After a long moment he felt her come back, her mind now back into her body. 

“Ow… that took far too long.” she muttered softly. “But I got it out. Did anything happen?” Ben laid a quick debate in himself. 

“Yes.” he answered. “Can you see the memory?” 

“Only if you want me to.” he turned to her fully raising his hand to her to cup her cheek. “Ben?” 

“Can you live if I take you away now?” he knew the answer, it was no. She needed to go back for more of the substance in her veins, and even modifying nearly everything in her body. But her look was odd to say the least. 

“What exactly are you talking about?” he let her into his mind further, even the memory of what he had done. She wasn’t ‘allowed’ to have her heart race, but she could still feel the emotional effect of it. He crowded in her space, arm snaking around her waist. The tubes shot out again, attaching to her spine and flooding her spine with less than the hit he had given her before, but it was enough to keep her calm enough that there would be less chance of her reacting in a manner that would hurt her. 

“I… I didn’t know that could happen.” she said quietly. He could only feel the race of her mind as she ran through things. All the while he was there, trying to comfort her as much as possible. The way her mind worked was amazing and he could barely follow it. It was like she was running and he could only walk. Or rather on a warp ship while he was stuck puttering along with rockets. She shuddered against him fingers digging into his arms. 

“I’m going to help you.” 

“Ben, please stop.” finally the things inside of him were finished with something. A soft sort of modification to what he was doing now. Only now there was more of a slow pump of a knock-out drug, her hands went limp as he gathered her back up casting a quick glance out towards where Hux had left to. Towards that same ‘repair’ chamber. “I don’t want anything else.” she told him before her mind went into a full state of unconsciousness. The thing in his body further making sure she couldn’t wake up. 

It seemed to take only a few turns to get there, the man Hux was waiting. Ben glanced over him and settled her onto a larger table then the rest, wires shot out from it connecting to her spine. Several small, completely inhuman drones, some kind of insect the size of a dog, landed down from the ceiling. While the other drones were taken care of by other humanoids, he stepped back away from her.

Imperatives sated for the moment, he turned away from her walking quickly away. Something in his head told him where to go all the while he could sense what was happening to her. But he couldn’t risk otherwise. The ‘weapon’ that was in her head was about the size of a rocket, encased in the same he wondered how it could get around the deflectors. But then he noticed that was just a casing, a ‘punch’ that would hit the shield, then the innards would break through landing the ‘payload’ just into the other side of the shields. This payload was a very powerful emp. 

What connected them together he delved into, and taped onto a small square piece in the middle. 

ONE OF ONE YOU WILL STOP.

A sort of voice yelled into his head. He didn’t have to obey it, he wasn’t controlled by this ship, he was controlled by Rey. And right now his directives were clear in allowing her to be more fully modified into what she needed to be. While that happened, he could act on his own. At least mostly on his own. He could get her out of here before he these things detonated. Wiping the entire computer based ‘life’ out. The percentage of her survival for this, compared to just allowing what was wanted by Hux was greater, thus he could do this. 

_ ONE OF ONE STOP OR YOU WILL BE DISABLED.  _

His hand ran over the small completely familiar consol. HIS Rey had made a completely old style way of sending off missiles. A cryptograph, and he had the key to it gleaned from her mind. Completely a physical thing, a few tapped keys and it was armed. 

DISABLE ONE OF ONE. 

He didn’t move as several drones converged on him, and he waited until they were close enough for the blade in his cut off arm to reach before he reacted. The thing flicked on, and he sliced into one easily. The smell of burning flesh and molten metal ran into his nose. One reached for his arm, and lost it. He stood, turning towards one impaling its chest onto the blade which he drew upwards, slicing it in half. A warning ran into the cube, completely inaudible but there in his head. Four more drones came by, one rising a phaser. He shut off the blade, and from inside of the arm shot out the remains of the bolter he used to have. The projectile slammed into the drones eye, and it then slumped down as he dropped down, grabbing one of the fallen drones phaser. 

He clicked it on, and shot one of the others moving as fast as he could diving behind the cache of weapons. Not a single one tried to fire at him as he wedged himself fully behind them. That could set them off. He didn’t need to fire blindly. He knew where each drone was, slowly heading towards him on either side. The phaser struck one, shutting it down as he rolled stiffly, and came up shoving another out into another. Knocking them down and quickly using the bolter in his arm to fire into each ones bare eye. 

A fire from the last one’s phaser blasted into his back sending a ‘painful’ feedback into him. But he wasn’t like them, he was built to fight. He turned around and quickly dispatched the last drone. The quiet hiss of things in the aftermath. If he was right in thinking, then he might have three more bolts left, and checked the bolter, opening his arm and seeing the ammo. Four were left so he would have to be careful. He gathered up the phasers, not wanting to lose out for weapons and left. Only three more drones, each one the alien race, came at him as he went back to Rey. 

He drove one into a wall, firing once with the phaser directly against the temple of it, and then hefted the limp body up using it as a shield as he fired the blade through it, into another one. Slicing his body shield in half while doing so. One heft of his arm and he tossed the remains into the last one. Then drove it up grabbing the arm of it had, which was going to fire the same kind of plasma blade. So that it fired into itself, driving the blade with an on and off flick into its brain. He ripped off the arm, sure Rey could use the spare blade that would be inside of the arm. It leaked out a stream of the black blood as he went back to her. 

Nothing else tried to attack him, and he knew it was because they had lost so many it wasn’t worth it anymore. He wasn’t going to attack them back as he watched one drone ‘flee’ down the hall to his left. Only she was left in the repair bay, and in the meantime very much changed. Now her hair was falling out, lying in small clumps on the table as larger wires were poking out from the back of her head. Connecting directly to her spine.

Her skin should be flushed and red from all the new mechanical bits now coming off her. But it wasn’t and only a sickly pale color with blackened veins. The tubes connecting to the table were keeping her quiet and still as he touched her knowing that it would cause a lot of damage to remove her. But the weapon was ticking down, everything was less minimal then her death. 

Letting the phasers down he racked his eyes down on the bed, and then sliced into each large tube with a flick of the plasma blade. Clear fluids poured out, and quickly then detached from her spine. With a gasp in, she was back nearly falling off the bed as her body spasmed. Almost enough to break her back, but then with a seizure she was still. “I need you to hold onto me.” Ben told her, she groaned, backing away. “Rey, trust me.” 

“Whe...where am I?” he didn’t waste time trying. 

_ Get on my back. Hold on. We can’t stay here.  _

The command raced through his head into her and she stood, using the remains of the table to do so as he bent down allowing her to clamber weakly onto his back. Several more tubes wrapped out, making sure she was secure, as she slumped weakly down. 

_ I activated your bombs… missiles. _

It took a long moment as he left, the drones once more about to converge on him. But with HER on his back they could not risk it. She was a queen after all. Even rogue as she was, or rather he was. They could not risk the damage to her frame. 

**Will not work. Two of one knows code. Will deactivate. You will st ...Ben? What did you do to me?**

_ I’m sorry. _

He made his way back to the bay, it seemed like it was crowded with drones, all just waiting for them. One of them had a bladed weapon, Rey had a phaser in her arm and aimed, only clipping it, but it allowed him to take it down further. One hand grazed her back, but it was dropped with a fire from her other hand, tubes activating the broken arm of the drone. Firing the plasma blade into the chest cavity as he slowly pressed towards an escape pod he knew was there. It was there only for her. He couldn’t fit, but she would be safe. 

The drones fell back, which is when every portion of his body froze. A billion voices crashed into his mind, and then one hundred more settled them aside. 

**Stop. One of One.**

Each voice stated. 

**Bring 8721 to us.**

He couldn’t stop it as she was peeled off, and his mind could only wonder in the smallest portion that he could keep as himself just what this was. His mind left him in that moment, drawing him out and then with a painful headache into the white room from before. 

Rey wasn’t anywhere close to what she was before, the coding that must be her constantly shifting. “Ben… this is a centimatrix…” she told him. He backed away from the shift from how he first saw her to another Rey. This one exactly like how that part of him wanted her. A core of the borg. “We can’t escape… there is no hope.” 

“Rey… I’m sorry.” for a moment she stayed like how he first saw her and smiled.

“I can’t keep them all out… it’s too much… just know Ben. I really wanted to save you.” Blackness caved in, but then with a flick something else happened. It cleared everything, and he watched as it seemed like he was both outside the space and also inside of it as one singular being appeared in both realms. 

“Now what is a borg queen doing asking for my help?” the man, since that is what he looked like outside the space looked like asked. Tall and thin with an elongated face he had a way of speaking that sounded sarcastic. In the white space which had Rey frozen between the two stages ‘he’ or rather it was a floating sphere of some sort. “Well borg, are you going to answer?” 

“She… she called for help from… Q.” Ben answered staring at it. He was stuck mid fall body hanging limp in the air while his mind was allowed to function. Q, turned to Rey. 

“She? Is barely even classified as a human.” Q responded. He snapped his fingers and Rey came back, eyes not blinking but then focusing fast on Q. She seemed to shrink into herself pupils dilating completely black. “So, you can see me for what I am truly, do you know what that means?” 

“Q?” she called out. Fear rushing into her head. She too was stalled in time, just being hooked into seven different drones as a ‘lifeboat’ to their ‘rogue’ queen. “Yes. I know.” Ben didn’t want to know just what Q looked like to her eyes even the filtered version flooding from her head to his felt like several punches all over him. 

“I want to know why a rogue borg is asking for MY help. Surely you can see why I’m curious. Two humans? Even worse. What makes either of you think you deserve my help?” Rey looked away from him focusing instead on Ben. 

“Not me. Him. Save him, please.” Ben opened his mouth to protest, but Q spoke first. 

“What the fool who lost in time?” 

“Save her.” Ben tried, Q looked to him, and then time restarted but just for his body making him land onto the ground. Rey couldn’t move still. 

“How disgustingly endearing. Two Borg, come to love each other.” he rolled his eyes. “What’s next for you borg? Making more children?” 

“Weapon, set it off. Centimatrix could be…” Rey started then dropped off. 

“Damaged? Unlikely. Now again, why would I help you?” Q asked taking a step up to her as Ben pushed himself up… with two human hands. He quickly looked himself over. This wasn’t the white world anymore, that one was taken out leaving them both in the time stalled ‘dock’. With both of them looking human as can be. 

“I said not me.” Q stayed silent, as Rey slowly extracted herself from the drones. “Let Ben go home… please. I can still self terminate.” Q perked up, body going stiff. “Would that suffice you Q? Killing myself to show how much I need your help?” 

“A borg queen can’t terminate herself.” Q replied simply. Rey grabbed a phaser and pointed it to her temple. “STOP.” She was frozen as Ben was, just about to try to tackle her to stop her. 

“I am NOT a borg. I am REY NIIMA, as he is BEN SOLO.” 

“Take her, not me. Save he-” 

“Ben you’ve suffered enough.” Rey cut him off. “Go home, be with your dad, at least you remember yours. I don’t even remember my mother’s face.” Q regarded them both. 

“I think there is something I can do.” Rey turned her attention back to Q, nearly shaking in front of him still frozen about to shoot herself. “But you will have to prove something to me borg.” 

“Just save him.” Rey said when he paused a moment. “I could have taken any other drone.” 

“Ah, but then the outcome would not have been here.” Q told her. “But as I said, and interrupt me again and I will leave you here borg.” she grit her teeth waiting as he paused for a long moment. “Lets see if you actually will remember little rogue queen.” 

Remember what? He thought when a bright flash of light engulfed the entire bay. Her and him, then he was back into pure darkness. 

**  
  
  
**

Rey shuddered as she reached the shuttle, the borg cube coming to life behind her. She got in flicking various buttons and detaching herself from the destroyed side of the ship. The others were taken disappearing into the cube. For a moment as she got the engines going she had the intense fear of someone escape. 

**_Rebooting._ **

Several things slammed into her brain making her go limp in the seat with a silent seizure. In just half a second she was back things processing fast. 

8721 you must be repaired. 

Rey ignored it and hailed the Finalizer. “POE! Poe the cube is active I’m transmitting the code to you for the weapon!” there was silence on the other end. 

“Rey? What happened?” Poe asked as she tapped the code sending it to him. “Code in, What happened?” 

“Hux is a traitor. You need to fire into the quadrants I send. We can SAVE everyone that was taken on the team.” she told him so fast she nearly stumbled over the words. Sending the specific quadrants to Poe. She saw the ship and sighed in relief as she approached. 

“Sending a distress call out.” 

“NO! It will be taken by the borg cube and sent to them!” Poe made a noise on the other end. “I’m almost there, get the weapons ready to be fired.” 

“Are you ordering your captain about there?” Poe’s voice was good natured and humored. “I like it, I have the weapons ready.” 

“Good fire the first three, that will make the cube dead in the water.” Rey told him as she went into the open shuttle bay. So many things were filtering over from the ‘borg’ portion of her brain. “The drone in the medical bay may be active you need to send help NOW. That’s where I’ll go first. I can disable anything it does.” 

“I got you Rey, firing now.” Poe answered. She watched as the missiles streaked out, tiny little things compared to the cube and impacted. A rainbow of blues from the shielding on it sputtered out, and then the main part of the payload punched through. The ship started exploding and she could feel the sense of ‘panic’ from the borg. 

8721 you must return. Damaged. 

Again she ignored it, leaping off the shuttle craft heading right for the medical bay of the ship. The entire portion looked like a mess of wires and several engineers were in the process of keeping it from spreading out from the rest of the ship. “Update?” Rey asked as she went to the main door. 

“We are able to keep the borg from getting into the main ship but we don’t know for how long.” said one of them. 

“Open the door for me.” the young man looked panicked. “Please. I can shut the drone down.” The engineers looked at each other and then nodded. One went to the door which was already having sounds behind it as it tried to escape. 

“It will be open for you to go in, then its closed.” she nodded to them bracing herself. The door slid open and she rushed in, tackling the drone behind the door down and then coming up in a roll as the doors slid closed behind her. She paid no head to the drone now lumbering up behind her but went to the main computers of the medical bay. 

Wires came out of her wrist as she attached to the broken portion made by the drone coming up behind her. “8721 you must be repaired.” it said in a raspy voice. 

“Yes yes, just give me a moment.” she replied. Her mind going into the ships system. 

**_Inject Luke code._ **

The coding shot out quickly infecting the entire system the borg had intergrated with. She even found the AI of the holodoc, based off a real… person. Rey slid her mind out as the drone put a hand on her. 

“8721 you have been declared rogue.” She turned to it, hand over its face and shot the wires into its brain. Taking it over into her brain. The drone went limp and she commanded it to ‘stay asleep’ until she could come back. The engineers opened the door again, each one wairly walking out. 

“Start repairs now, it was just the one drone. It will not give you trouble, leave it alone.” they bowed their heads as she ran up towards the commanded deck. She tapped her comicator to the bridge pattern. “Rey to bridge, borg has been contained. Status?” 

“The cube has been silent and sitting there without much since we attacked.” Poe responded. She smiled as the turbolift rushed her into the command deck. “You took out a borg?” 

“Yes, I’ll explain as soon as I come up there.” Rey shivered as she came out to the busy command deck. Everyone was at their proper places barking orders. Poe stood motioning her towards him. 

“Good start explaining now, what the hell happened?”

“Hux is a traitor.” she told him. “He activated the cube and took the others who were patching the ship.” Poe shook his head. “We can get them back.” 

“Are you sure?” he asked her looking deadly serious. 

“Yes sir.” he flicked his gaze up and down her. That was when the cube hailed them, the communication frequencies racing into the bridge like a sharp alarm. 

“Open the hail. VIDEO call.” Poe commanded. The screen flickered half into the view of the cube, ready to attack it again, and then to Hux. Who looked worse for wear then Rey felt. The shock of the attack must have flung him giving a bleeding head injury. “So it was Hux.” he said quietly. 

“You will cease attacks.” Hux commanded to them. Poe scoffed. 

“You’re not in a position to bargain.” Poe responded. Hux grimaced. 

“Where is 8721?” Hux asked Poe looked confused. 

“He means me. Apparently… I was going to be a queen.” she explained to him. “It’s still working away to modify me…” Poe nodded to her. 

“8721 went for a vacation.” Poe replied smiling as Hux looked furious. “Sipping margaritas on a beach. On trappist one.” 

“You will deliver 8721 to us.” Hux snapped. “Cease attacks, and be ass-” 

“Poe fire a missile into this quadrant.” she tapped the console on his chair bringing it up. “It will shake them up quite a bit.” Poe grinned. 

“Ready for another one traitor?” Poe asked. Hux straightened going silent with pupils dialating. 

“CEASE ATTACKS. YOUR CREW WILL DIE.” Hux yelled. Poe glanced to her but she shook her head. They would be at this moment assimilating them right now, if it hadn’t already happened. Poe fired the missile it impacting the shields again, and punching through exploding a sizable chunk off the cube. 

“Pretty explosions wouldn’t you say?” Poe replied grinning. “Surrender traitor or I’ll accept the loss of life.” Rey flinched, but stayed silent. Hux grit his teeth. “Shut down the cube and surrender. Maybe I’ll advocate for life in prison instead of death.” 

“Borg don’t surrender.” Rey said quietly. Poe turned to her and then back to Hux. “But he’s not part of the collective just yet, next missile here, that will cause a chain reaction and cause the cube to… well explode.” Poe nodded getting back into his chair and leaning casually back. 

“Well traitor? Life or be destroyed. It’s your choice.” Hux looked up to something, and then the cube went completely off power. Cutting the communications off. Poe blinked at that. “Can we trust-” 

“Fire the missle.” Rey told him. A single tap, this time the shields didn’t impact on it, but as the cube exploded, falling apart in space as the explosions pushed portions away the main attack bays was flickering to sickly green colors before vanishing. There was a short cheer in the command deck. 

“They were going to use all the power to attack us… good to know.” Poe said and then stood holding a hand out to her. “I can not say I enjoy the loss of my people.” she hung her head down. 

“If they were assimilated, then they can survive in space for around seventy three hours.” she told him. Poe grinned. 

“Start an away team, pick up everyone in a fleet uniform floating in space.” Poe ordered. The bridge ran to comply, leaving her shivering. “Rey, what is wrong?” she shook her head.

“What about the rest of them? We could put them in stasis…” Poe was staring down at her. 

“I want a full report from you, but yes.” the command deck stalled. “Pick up all borg and place them into full stasis. If they activate destroy them.” Rey nodded. 

“Thank you.” she told Poe. 

“If you see Hux, send him on a tragetory that will land him into the star.” Poe told them leaving her to smile just a little. “Now full report Rey don’t be afraid of the details.” his smile was comforting, but she still felt a little sick. That was when the ship went white, and everyone froze around her. Poe about to lend a comforting hand out to her. 

“I seen you actually remembered little queen.” Q said taking a place on the bridge as another captain. She turned to him. “Good thing to, if they were able to do what was going to happen at least seven billion people-” Rey rushed him, hugging him. Q was cut off and sighed. “I’ll never understand humans and their constant need for touch.” he admitted and hugged her back. 

“Thank you. But… where… where is he?” she asked drawing back away from Q. 

“In the medical bay… as your picked up drone.” she blinked that portion of her mind racing. It hurt still to look at him. “Do you know what you can do little queen?” he asked and motioned around him. Rey looked down to the ground. 

“Do you think I can do it?” Q smiled towards her holding out his hand. 

“With a few proper Dominion modifications.” She took his hand smiling at him. 

“Thank you Q. I don’t know why… you’d do this.” he looked a bit disappointed in himself. 

“What can I say, you humans are disgustingly endearing.” 

“I’ll save as many as I can, I swear it.” he nodded to her, and in another blinding flash she was back with Poe just reaching his hand out to her. Rey put hers in his some parts of her changed quite less horrifically then the borg. At least she still had herself, for the most part. .4% wasn’t much, but she was sure she could manage. “You will have all that you need of me Poe.” she told him taking his hand. 

“Thank you, well we know your weapon works! That was a wonderful light show. I can’t wait to do it again.” She nodded to him with a frown. 

“Yes sir.” Poe shook her hand guiding her down into the seat that Hux might occupy as she gave him as much information as she could. Poe looked gravely serious as she did so, keeping the log open and recording as she gave it. The bridge crew just listened, with only a few questions thrown her away. 

****  
  


Much later Rey was back into the medical bay, the Holodoc Paige going over the damage the drone did to her bay. “Hello Miss Niima. Are you well?” the drone was on the table it was before as she slowly approached it. “Miss Niima?” 

“I know it sounds insane, but I can help him.” she told the holodoc. It looked at her, and then seemed to phase a little, in and out of physical existence. 

“I see… that.” the holodoc said voice muted. “Are you certain?” 

“I can help him.” Rey repeated. “He’s very stubborn.” 

“I will assist in the decommissioning.” Paige told her. Rey grinned to the doctor putting her hand onto the cheek of the drone. She could feel its inner mind at pure rest, just shut down like a light switch. But there was Ben waiting for her inside somewhere. Slim wires extended out silvery in color as she cradled his cheek in her hand. 

The drone came back to life, its eyes hazy and unfocused. “Hey there.” she said. “Focus on me.” she brought him into her mind, taking up a fraction of space that she had in there. But she was shuttled off to a ‘shielded’ portion so that only she could choose if they would mesh minds. “Are you okay?” the drone blinked rapidly. 

“Wh...what?” he spoke and she smiled down at him. 

“What’s your name there big guy?” Paige came up next to him, scanning him. 

“Ben…” he responded. Voice unused to speaking. 

“Got a last name Ben?” he reached a hand up to her, touching her cheek. 

“Solo. Ben Solo.” he answered. 

“Well Ben, you have quite some catching up to do, but don’t worry. I’m here to help you the whole way.” he blinked rapidly again, but nodded. “It will be okay, I promise.” Paige looked to her strangely, but then put a small needle into the flesh of the arm taking a DNA sample to clone the missing organs. 

“What… happened? Where am I?” she took his hand off her cheek squeezing it in her own. 

“You’re in a medical bay of a ship, a lot has happened while you were sleeping.” Ben nodded just barely. “I’ll tell you everything okay?” 

“My… my father?” Her mind raced a bit. “Chewie?” 

“Oh… they are… they are going to be okay too.” the information flooded into her head like it was always there. They had been shuttered away into stasis instead of their entire bodies being harvested of material. Just the liver from his father inside of him. He nodded slowly, panic decreased as he slumped down. 

“What happened to me?” she smiled at him pulling up a chair near him still holding onto his hands as Paige worked away in the background. 

“Your ship was attacked by beings known as the borg.” Rey began, telling him what she knew happened to him. His memories were his own and she was not going to touch on them unless he allowed it. Soon he might not take up a place in her head, but even if he did, she didn’t mind it at all. Wouldn’t Luke be proud, she wasn’t sure, but she had Ben, and maybe, if his mother had put herself into stasis as well, he’d have everyone he loved too. She was sure it happened, in the only way sure a human could have. Which was quite a difference between the 95.74% percent chance that her brain told her it was sure Leia, the name came out of her head, told her that she had done. Accessing records of the old earth and federation remotely. 


End file.
